Concussion: Now It’s Boxing’s Turn – “(“Iron Mike” Webster was) a formidable man, at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, who sometimes forgot to eat for days — sleeping in his battered, black Chevy S-10 pickup truck, a garbage bag duct-taped over the missing window. ‘Sometimes he didn’t seem to care,’ said Sunny Jani, the primary caregiver the last six years of his life.” – Greg Garber, ESPN.com

They said he had died of a heart attack,but when I first saw photos of former NFL football legend Mike Webster with his forehead protruding grotesquely and a shelf of scar tissue over his eyebrows, I was pretty certain his issues were more frontal lobe than heart condition. Cardiac arrest may be how he died but not why.You could see it plainly during this interview toward the end. It’s difficult to witness, particularly for those familiar with why Mike was called “Iron” Mike and this was long before the NFL and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) would be connected through Mike’s death and legacy:”

“Dementia footballistica. This is crazy. This has never been identified before.” –Ronald Hamilton, neuropathologist

“[Like dementia pugilistica], it doesn’t get better…’You get more and more demented. It’s sad.”–Dr. Fred Jay Krieg,

Fast Forward

The 2015 Sony Pictures movie “Concussion,” based on an article by Jeanne Marie Lascars titled “Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever,” was not about boxing, at least not directly. It was about football which has gained more attention thanks to pioneering forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered neurological deterioration similar to Alzheimer’s disease while conducting an autopsy on Mike Webster. Omalu described Webster’s brain as one of “a boxer, a sufferer of Alzheimer’s…or someone who had suffered a severe head wound.”

The doctor found that Mike’s brain contained the buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau. This buildup, which is also an Alzheimer’s hallmark, leads to brain cell death. “Tau was kind of like sludge, clogging up the works, killing cells in regions responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning,” he said.

There is no treatment and no cure for CTE. The only known way to prevent it is to avoid repeated head injuries. However, several major research initiatives are underway. Omalu has set out to cure CTE. “You pop a pill before you play, a medicine that prevents the buildup of tau,…like you take an aspirin to prevent heart disease. Why not?,” he says.

Thus, and to make a very long story short, there was no other explanation for Webster’s deterioration; the repeated banging of his brain against his skull had damaged the brain’s nerve cells. Amidst controversy (and denial and pushback from the NFL), Omalu named the disorder Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and published his findings in a medical journal. The NFL called his findings flawed.

That was then and this is now, and now, as other athletes face the same diagnosis, the crusading doctor has raised public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma. No more denials; no more pushback. The doctor has studied too many brains for any pushback.

The film spread the story of CTE’s discovery in football players—and the NFL’s years of alleged inaction. Unable to change the past, the NFL is now focusing on the future, but over the last decade, the league has repeatedly avoided tying football to brain damage, even as it has given disability payments to former players with dementia-related conditions—including Mike Webster (but that’s another shameful story for another day).Yet, in all fairness, the league has clearly taken extra measures in recent years to make the game safer.

Boxing

Aside from a few high-profile doctors like John Stiller, Margaret Goodman, Ray Monsell, Joel Kleinman and others from the Association of Ring Physicians (ARP), no one has really come out in the manner of Bennet Omalu to dramatize the fact that if football produces CTE, what precisely does boxing produce?

Tom Moyer, the filmmaker of the riveting (and frightening) documentary “After the Last Round” says he made the movie because he was so tormented by the head injuries that stripped his boxing cousins of their memories. His goal is to increase awareness so more people will care. The documentary has had minimal distribution, which is a shame.

Writer Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun touches the tip of the iceberg when he says, “They [boxers] have no pension; in fact, most walk away with less than nothing, because they leave boxing with less than what they had going in.”

Compared to professional football players and with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. Thus, for those who suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy or pugilistic Parkinson’s syndrome, Parkinson’s tremors (which is not as deadly}, or dementia pugilistica (aka boxer’s syndrome), matters won’t improve. Dementia pugilistica is a one-way ticket to Palookaville. While other injuries such as cuts and fractures can be repaired, brain tissue, once damaged, remains irreversibly damaged.The plain fact is Dementia Pugilistica is a variant ofCTE.

Football, soccer, rugby, and hockey teams and wrestlers are, for the most part, represented by unions. Boxers have no such collective strength. Unless promoters (see postscript below) and state commissions do something, no one else will. It simply is what it is. But all the hoopla these days is about catch weight, doping, PPV counts, and other things that mask the darker side of boxing—the one in which the thousands of rounds and blows in the gym eventually offset any possible feeling of hope.

Except for the elite few who enjoy their place at the tip of the pyramid, most boxers do, in fact, leave the sport with less than what they had going in.

Now this is not about Rocky Balboa who was named the seventh greatest movie hero, and who solved the Cold War with Russia by beating the evil Ivan Drago and who, as a 60-year-old, even overcame suspected brain damage to go the distance with Mason Dixon. This is about reality. What happened to Iron Mike Webster was every bit as horrible as what happened to boxing’s Moyer brothers and to the Quarrys.

This is about former boxer, sparring partner, and highly respected trainer John Bray who has now been clinically diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas. (Pugilistic Dementia is considered a sub-type of CTE.) John also has Alzheimer’s and Cavum Septum Pellucidum as a result of his boxing career. He is 46.

This is a subject that no longer can be ignored by those who essentially run boxing, or by those who write about it, or by those who comment about it.

Postscript:The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is in the midst of a multiyear study of professional boxers and their brains to determine just what happens to them, and when, and why, and how and if it can be prevented. The study, which unites Golden Boy, Top Rank, MMA, and U.S. Senators, has enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters with the goal of evaluating 625 by its completion. Participation is completely voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and brain function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for at least four years. It’s a great, great start!

Ted Sares is one of the world’s oldest active power lifters and holds several records. He enjoys writing about boxing.

Concussion: Now It’s Boxing’s Turn / Check out more boxing news and videos at The Boxing Channel.

Tags:

COMMENTS

-Kid Blast :

I think the scariest quote I ever read was this: "Please help me," A Tormented Mike Webster.

-deepwater2 :

I run the MRI department in NY. My chairman is a boxing fan and would be interested in participating in any of these studies. Please forward any info.
Just got my application for the first annual Brooklyn championships at pac plex in October.
The death waiver always catches my attention. It is what it is. Any punch or headbutt can finish me off of make me a vegetable.
I assume all risks. It's my life on the line.
I could have had a pro career but I choose this fine profession instead.
Liberty and freedom for all!

-FrankinDallas :

"with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. "
How about starting with basic health insurance, PAID BY THE PROMOTERS and ARENA and
TV STATIONS that show the fights. They are making money on the boxers, ffs sake how about
a little protection for them!

-Kid Blast :

I run the MRI department in NY. My chairman is a boxing fan and would be interested in participating in any of these studies. Please forward any info.
Just got my application for the first annual Brooklyn championships at pac plex in October.
The death waiver always catches my attention. It is what it is. Any punch or headbutt can finish me off of make me a vegetable.
I assume all risks. It's my life on the line.
I could have had a pro career but I choose this fine profession instead.
Liberty and freedom for all!

Give me your email mate. Also, see my reply to Radam down below. Lots of stuff in there. I have done hours and hours of research into this topic and the bottom line is a simple one. There is no cure but they think they know the cause.

-Kid Blast :

"with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. "
How about starting with basic health insurance, PAID BY THE PROMOTERS and ARENA and
TV STATIONS that show the fights. They are making money on the boxers, ffs sake how about
a little protection for them!

It's sickening. And it's not going to get much better. NYSAC was doing something but I don't know where it stands. Problem here is that if these guys get CTE, they won't be around long enough for insurance to matter unless it pays for a nursing home and good luck to that. They are caught in a Catch-22. At least the football players had a union and solid benefits.

-JohnnyTango :

One hell of a sad and depressing story. A well written and interesting piece, Ted. It one reason why I don't watch boxing like I used to. I live day-to-day with low-back pain from pounding my body over the years. Had I known I was going to live as long as I have, I'd taken better care of myself.

-larueboenig :

I well recall that you played football in Chicago. Did you ever experience any concussions? Go to the hospital or a doctor?

-Kid Blast :

One hell of a sad and depressing story. A well written and interesting piece, Ted. It one reason why I don't watch boxing like I used to. I live day-to-day with low-back pain from pounding my body over the years. Had I known I was going to live as long as I have, I'd taken better care of myself.

You can still do a great Tango
BTW, Boxing is not an activity that often has a happy ending. Depressing stories are the norm IMO.

-Kid Blast :

I well recall that you played football in Chicago. Did you ever experience any concussions? Go to the hospital or a doctor?

Believe it or not, I got one in touch football when some rat elbowed me in the head. That night, I put my gym shoes in the refrigerator and then vomited. But I never saw a doctor. That was a concussion. In football proper, I was the one who dished out concussions.

-Felice Leeds :

You might be surprised to learn that the index case for the study of CTE is the brain of Middleweight Boxing Champion Paul Pender.
In 2003, long before athletes were donating their brains to medical research, Rose Pender made the brave decision to donate her husband's brain to Boston University's Brain Research Study. Rose thought that given Paul's profession, his brain donation was important if it could help other people.
Paul was diagnosed as having suffered from stage 4 CTE.
His brain was the beginning of the legendary study of athletes brains at BU. Since then, hundreds of athletes in all sports have agreed to donate their brains to medical research. Paul Pender's brain remains the index case for the study of CTE at BU.
Paul's story is told in the new documentary, 'Unforgotten, The Story of Paul Pender.'
To learn more go to: ->https://vimeo.com/103853517
->www.facebook.com/unforgottenchamp

-Kid Blast :

You might be surprised to learn that the index case for the study of CTE is the brain of Middleweight Boxing Champion Paul Pender.
In 2003, long before athletes were donating their brains to medical research, Rose Pender made the brave decision to donate her husband's brain to Boston University's Brain Research Study. Rose thought that given Paul's profession, his brain donation was important if it could help other people.
Paul was diagnosed as having suffered from stage 4 CTE.
His brain was the beginning of the legendary study of athletes brains at BU. Since then, hundreds of athletes in all sports have agreed to donate their brains to medical research. Paul Pender's brain remains the index case for the study of CTE at BU.
Paul's story is told in the new documentary, 'Unforgotten, The Story of Paul Pender.'
To learn more go to: ->https://vimeo.com/103853517
->www.facebook.com/unforgottenchamp

Thank you so much for this. Paul was one of Boston's very best. He was also very sharp.

-Radam G :

You might be surprised to learn that the index case for the study of CTE is the brain of Middleweight Boxing Champion Paul Pender.
In 2003, long before athletes were donating their brains to medical research, Rose Pender made the brave decision to donate her husband's brain to Boston University's Brain Research Study. Rose thought that given Paul's profession, his brain donation was important if it could help other people.
Paul was diagnosed as having suffered from stage 4 CTE.
His brain was the beginning of the legendary study of athletes brains at BU. Since then, hundreds of athletes in all sports have agreed to donate their brains to medical research. Paul Pender's brain remains the index case for the study of CTE at BU.
Paul's story is told in the new documentary, 'Unforgotten, The Story of Paul Pender.'
To learn more go to: ->https://vimeo.com/103853517
->www.facebook.com/unforgottenchamp

Thanks for looking out. I appreciate that link. In the past, a lot of pugs were known for getting Pugilistia Dementia, then Parkison's syndrome, i.e. the late, great GOAT Ali. Now, I guess, it is CTE. Or maybe some pugs can get all three of them. Holla!

-Kid Blast :

Thanks for looking out. I appreciate that link. In the past, a lot of pugs were known for getting Pugilistia Dementia, then Parkison's syndrome, i.e. the late, great GOAT Ali. Now, I guess, it is CTE. Or maybe some pugs can get all three of them. Holla!

Some say CTE is a sub-derivative of Pugilistica Dementia. Parkinson's is different as there are different kinds.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a deterioration of the brain. It is caused by the buildup of a protein called tau. The brain damage caused by CTE can lead to severe mental and physical disabilities. The condition gets worse over time.
Researchers have a found a link between repetitive head injuries and CTE. The head injury may involve:
A blow or jolt to the head
Severe jarring or shaking
Abruptly coming to a stop
Over time, these injuries can lead to abnormal groups of tau proteins. These proteins can create tangled masses in the brain. The tangles can block normal brain function. Similar tangles are seen in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Having a history of head injuries puts you at risk for CTE later in life. People who may be at the highest risk include those who:
Participate in contact sports, especially professional boxers, football players, hockey players, wrestlers, and soccer players
Have been in combat military service
Have been physically abused
Have severe seizures
Have a developmental disability and engage in self-abusive behavior (head banging)
Bottom Line: CTE is a very controversial condition that is still not well-understood. Researchers do not yet know the frequency of CTE in the population and do not understand the causes. There is no cure for CTE.RESOURCES:
Boston University Center for Traumatic Brain Injury
->http://www.bu.edu/cste/
Sports Legacy Institute
->http://www.sportslegacy.org/
CANADIAN RESOURCES:
Brain Injury Association of Alberta
->http://www.biaa.ca/
Ontario Brain Injury Association
->http://www.obia.on.ca/
References:
Blast anatomy—chronic traumatic encephalopathy in military vets. Alzheimer Research Forum website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Published May 18, 2012. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Sports Legacy Institute website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed May 29, 2012.
Kowall N. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and its connection with ALS. US Department of Veterans Affairs website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Published November 2010. Accessed May 29, 2012.
LaVecchia F. Traumatic brain injury. Indian Health Service website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed May 29, 2012.
McKee A, Cantu R, Nowinski C, et al. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes: progressive tauopathy following repetitive head injury. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2009; 68(7):709-735.
Moderate to severe traumatic head injury. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated April 5, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Navarro R. Protective equipment and prevention of concussion—what is the evidence. Sports Physical Therapy Section website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Published 2011. Accessed May 29, 2012.
NINDS Encephalopathy information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated November 9, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Prevention: What Can I do to Help Prevent Concussion and other forms of TBI? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated May 16, 2012. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Traumatic brain injury: hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated May 14, 2012. Accessed May 29, 2012.
What is CTE? Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed May 29, 2012.

-stormcentre :

I'm not saying it's fair, but by/large boxers not having a pension and/or any money to show for their efforts is the nature of the game.
Most fighters (even if they're from 1st world countries) come to the sport in a competitive sense, not because they're honors students in law, engineering or economics.
So, they usually don't understand the* importance of concepts like contract negotiation/law, amortization, inflation, insurance, contingency, and saving.
Add to it the fact that there's very little financial upside to boxing until you get into top 10 contention; which (even with a sponsor and/or good amateur background) can sometimes take a while even if you're good.
Sure, perhaps the answer is to enact legislation to ensure that deductions are made from promoter/fighter's earnings that pool into a pension.
That would set a standard, and not hurt.
But then, whom would regulate this?
Even so, it's a start.
That said, as it is now anyone or any sportsperson can create their own retirement/pension plan, by simply investing certain amounts of their earnings into a given fund/product on a periodical basis.
Which takes us back to the above *comments.
How would they not be mislead (by someone selling fiction as fact with a deceptive and heavily edited presentation video designed to separate them from their logic and money) as they embark upon that venture?
Furthermore, any politician looking to enact legislation that ensures deductions are made from promoter/fighter's earnings that pool into a pension for the benefit of fighters, also has a decent uphill battle.
As, they need to ensure that such a Bill has meaningful traction on a federal basis.
Otherwise it could possibly - via the snakes nest of different states, interests, organizations, and commissions - just end up being treated like PED testing, infringements of such, and/or any other policy that promoters, fighters, and managers simply wish to sidestep.
But right now, what politician is going to run with such a Bill?
What purpose does it serve his career in an avarice filled world to both, become the living embodiment of such a policy and also take it upon himself to ensure that the bottom feeding pugilistic demography preserve themselves against poverty?
About 15 years ago there was a controversial study done in Australia pertaining to concussions in sport.
The sample group was Aussies and Kiwi's (New Zealanders).
The study was in response to some particularly ugly/violent boxing matches that provided the appearance more of an extremely brutal fight - than a controlled boxing bout; which resulted in both, some boxers being concussed and significant outrage from community.
As was expected, the media quickly secured themselves onto the incidents in question and before long they had devised a way to monetize both it and the public's easily manipulated minds; via the release of sensationalistic articles and claims that - whilst they were not entirely unlike those we have seen here after the MayPac fight - a similarity they also shared with that era was the fact that the articles/claims that the media whipped up did absolutely nothing to discuss the matter at hand with facts and honesty.
This gave rise to the aforementioned so called study.
But (in order to conceal its widely believed witch hunt objectives that themselves were rumored to have originated from previous Olympics activities and also a few top level Australian amateur boxing officials whom pushed back on head gear related safety suggestions) it had to appear legitimate.
As such, the idea of opening up the sporting code sample range to include, not just boxing, but also other ball sports was (despite initially being seen as lip service and a way to conceal the witch hunt objective that was taking place) introduced.
Aside from the fact that the study's results were both unexpected and said to have been subjected to an initial (but failed) attempt to withhold them; due to how the study results themselves actually defeated any witch hunt objectives that may have existed and been directed towards boxing . . . . . .
The summary of the "research" didn't sit too well with most of the media and many media consumers, whom had all displayed knee jerk responses to the above boxing incidents and also the media reports of it.
As it turned out that (in the attempt to legitimize the witch hunt and open the study to various sporting codes other than boxing, what was revealed was that) concussion and serious injury rates - especially those that had long lasting and/or permanent effects - were noticeably more prevalent in Rugby, and Australian rules football.
This was an unexpected finding to those that initially breathed life into the study.
It was not until some of the study's authors were subjected to whistleblowing and a decent dose of non commercial investigative journalism that it became public knowledge that the true results of the study (that actually failed to portray boxing in the seemingly desired negative light) were being withheld.
Needless to say the Australian amateur boxing association at the time were quite vindicated and acted accordingly.
From a perspective of what sports were proven to be terminally dangerous and associated with high death rates; rock fishing was found to be more dangerous than Rugby and Boxing.
Food for thought.
Storm.
:) :) :)

-Kid Blast :

rock fishing = wtf?
But great post Storm.
Many knowelgable people are saying the only solution is the abolishment of boxing--and some even call for the end to football. That won't happen in my lifetime, but if some boxing writer proposed the end, I wonder what the response would be. One positive outcome would be that it would eliminate the so-called "experts/historians/writers".
It's a moral dilemma for some. Just don't know, but I do know that every heavy shot to the head takes away something. Just don't know.

-Tex Hassler :

Most young men who box or play football give absotuely no thought about possible brain damage. This is probably ever mentioned by trainers or others familiar with the sports. If I know what I know now I probably never would have boxed. Excellent article by the writer!

-stormcentre :

rock fishing = wtf?
But great post Storm.
Many knowelgable people are saying the only solution is the abolishment of boxing--and some even call for the end to football. That won't happen in my lifetime, but if some boxing writer proposed the end, I wonder what the response would be. One positive outcome would be that it would eliminate the so-called "experts/historians/writers".
It's a moral dilemma for some. Just don't know, but I do know that every heavy shot to the head takes away something. Just don't know.

Look in boxing, most historians (aside from our very own here at TSS) are not really historians in the sense that you might have a historian with expertise in English history.
Where they can recount the successive adventures of all England's Queens with equal clarity, and be able to step you through all the Queen's lives with detailed clarity in such a way that perhaps explaining Queen Mary I, with her . . .

[LIST]

Early adolescent life being treated as a market commodity - as evidenced by how King Henry VIII often negotiated, arranged, and officially contracted future marriages for her (beginning from when she was just 3 years old) to other royal families, and also (later when she was 6) even to her cousin.

Through to her amorous - but, both, suggested and frowned upon - exploits with Spanish partners that themselves were perceived as a risk to English sovereignty and as such gave rise to what was called "Wyatt's Rebellion".

All of which preceded how Queen Mary worked diligently to *restore Catholicism whilst she trailed in the wake of her half-brother's brief and controversial Protestant reign - itself a diligent *pursuit on Queen Mary's behalf that was perhaps "complemented" by Queen Mary condemning hundreds and hundreds of religious nonconformists to be horrifically burned at the stake.

Horrific and religious history making that was itself preceded how Mary in the early 1500's (after spending almost 3/4 of a decade experiencing extreme health, stress, and family problems that were probably resulting from and also combined with King Henry VIII embarrassingly and successively downgrading her royal status {where at one stage she was publicly deemed "illegitimate" by the King and not permitted to see her mother}) became witness to King Henry VIII officially beheading Queen Anne.
Largely due to the fact that the King was then dissatisfied with Anne.

Only to, shortly after Queen Mary I herself passed away, have her kingdom observe all her pugnacious and murderous efforts pertaining to the resurrection of Catholicism reversed by her little sister and successor, Elizabeth I.

[/LIST]
. . .Serves as a mere introductory note for both, most genuine historian's capabilities and also what's in store with respect to each recounting each Queen's history.
Moving on . . you're right.
Every shot to the head is dangerous and potentially takes away something.
This is why most real, qualified, and proven Doctors that do decide to oppose combat sports, choose boxing as the focus point for their efforts.
As no other sport - MMA included - subjects their participants to successive and prolonged strikes to head and/or promotes and utilizes such a tactic in a way where it underpins almost 100% of the way to win the contest early - achieve the most desired outcome for at least one fighter and his team - and also please the crowd.
The list of past and/or retired fighters with slurred speech and other neurological traits is not inconsiderable.
Boxing is as dangerous as it is compelling to participate in and watch.
And, that's probably why it's a cult sport.
Rock fishing was found to be the most dangerous sport due to the fact that many fishermen get seriously hurt and/or thrown against the rocks or drowned; as a direct result of them ignoring the risks as they secure and/or fish from a dangerous location.
Storm.
:) :)

-Kid Blast :

Most young men who box or play football give absotuely no thought about possible brain damage. This is probably ever mentioned by trainers or others familiar with the sports. If I know what I know now I probably never would have boxed. Excellent article by the writer!

Thanks Tex. I might not have played football either. I was a reckless type who would hit someone going at full speed. That can have a bad payback later on. I was lucky.

-Kid Blast :

Look in boxing, most historians (aside from our very own here at TSS) are not really historians in the sense that you might have a historian with expertise in English history.
Where they can recount the successive adventures of all England's Queens with equal clarity, and be able to step you through all the Queen's lives with detailed clarity in such a way that perhaps explaining Queen Mary I, with her . . .

[LIST]

Early adolescent life being treated as a market commodity - as evidenced by how King Henry VIII often negotiated, arranged, and officially contracted future marriages for her (beginning from when she was just 3 years old) to other royal families, and also (later when she was 6) even to her cousin.

Through to her amorous - but, both, suggested and frowned upon - exploits with Spanish partners that themselves were perceived as a risk to English sovereignty and as such gave rise to what was called "Wyatt's Rebellion".

All of which preceded how Queen Mary worked diligently to *restore Catholicism whilst she trailed in the wake of her half-brother's brief and controversial Protestant reign - itself a diligent *pursuit on Queen Mary's behalf that was perhaps "complemented" by Queen Mary condemning hundreds and hundreds of religious nonconformists to be horrifically burned at the stake.

Horrific and religious history making that was itself preceded how Mary in the early 1500's (after spending almost 3/4 of a decade experiencing extreme health, stress, and family problems that were probably resulting from and also combined with King Henry VIII embarrassingly and successively downgrading her royal status {where at one stage she was publicly deemed "illegitimate" by the King and not permitted to see her mother}) became witness to King Henry VIII officially beheading Queen Anne.
Largely due to the fact that the King was then dissatisfied with Anne.

Only to, shortly after Queen Mary I herself passed away, have her kingdom observe all her pugnacious and murderous efforts pertaining to the resurrection of Catholicism reversed by her little sister and successor, Elizabeth I.

[/LIST]
. . .Serves as a mere introductory note for both, most genuine historian's capabilities and also what's in store with respect to each recounting each Queen's history.
Moving on . . you're right.
Every shot to the head is dangerous and potentially takes away something.
This is why most real, qualified, and proven Doctors that do decide to oppose combat sports, choose boxing as the focus point for their efforts.
As no other sport - MMA included - subjects their participants to successive and prolonged strikes to head and/or promotes and utilizes such a tactic in a way where it underpins almost 100% of the way to win the contest early - achieve the most desired outcome for at least one fighter and his team - and also please the crowd.
The list of past and/or retired fighters with slurred speech and other neurological traits is not inconsiderable.
Boxing is as dangerous as it is compelling to participate in and watch.
And, that's probably why it's a cult sport.
Rock fishing was found to be the most dangerous sport due to the fact that many fishermen get seriously hurt and/or thrown against the rocks or drowned; as a direct result of them ignoring the risks as they secure and/or fish from a dangerous location.
Storm.
:) :)

"Boxing is as dangerous as it is compelling to participate in and watch.
"And, that's probably why it's a cult sport."
Yes, that's it. There are many other cross-currents but it's the risk of danger.

-brownsugar :

This a very interesting thread with a multitude of excellent comments so I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and take it all in.
But I did want to say this. Did anyone see the sports special about the surviving Chicago Bears championship team...former quarterback Jim McMahon said that football messed him up so bad he takes a hand full of pills everyday and frequently has to call his wife for directions to get back home when he drives around the corner to the local carry out.
I don't know anything about rock fishing but lobster boats reportedly have a high mortality rate and in one year over two dozen people fell to their deaths trying to climb mount Everett.
And I'd rather box than ride a motorcycle any day.

-Radam G :

Some say CTE is a sub-derivative of Pugilistica Dementia. Parkinson's is different as there are different kinds.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a deterioration of the brain. It is caused by the buildup of a protein called tau. The brain damage caused by CTE can lead to severe mental and physical disabilities. The condition gets worse over time.
Researchers have a found a link between repetitive head injuries and CTE. The head injury may involve:
A blow or jolt to the head
Severe jarring or shaking
Abruptly coming to a stop
Over time, these injuries can lead to abnormal groups of tau proteins. These proteins can create tangled masses in the brain. The tangles can block normal brain function. Similar tangles are seen in people with Alzheimer?s disease.
Having a history of head injuries puts you at risk for CTE later in life. People who may be at the highest risk include those who:
Participate in contact sports, especially professional boxers, football players, hockey players, wrestlers, and soccer players
Have been in combat military service
Have been physically abused
Have severe seizures
Have a developmental disability and engage in self-abusive behavior (head banging)
Bottom Line: CTE is a very controversial condition that is still not well-understood. Researchers do not yet know the frequency of CTE in the population and do not understand the causes. There is no cure for CTE.RESOURCES:
Boston University Center for Traumatic Brain Injury
->http://www.bu.edu/cste/
Sports Legacy Institute
->http://www.sportslegacy.org/
CANADIAN RESOURCES:
Brain Injury Association of Alberta
->http://www.biaa.ca/
Ontario Brain Injury Association
->http://www.obia.on.ca/
References:
Blast anatomy?chronic traumatic encephalopathy in military vets. Alzheimer Research Forum website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Published May 18, 2012. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Sports Legacy Institute website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed May 29, 2012.
Kowall N. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and its connection with ALS. US Department of Veterans Affairs website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Published November 2010. Accessed May 29, 2012.
LaVecchia F. Traumatic brain injury. Indian Health Service website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed May 29, 2012.
McKee A, Cantu R, Nowinski C, et al. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy in athletes: progressive tauopathy following repetitive head injury. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2009; 68(7):709-735.
Moderate to severe traumatic head injury. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated April 5, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Navarro R. Protective equipment and prevention of concussion?what is the evidence. Sports Physical Therapy Section website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Published 2011. Accessed May 29, 2012.
NINDS Encephalopathy information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated November 9, 2010. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Prevention: What Can I do to Help Prevent Concussion and other forms of TBI? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated May 16, 2012. Accessed May 29, 2012.
Traumatic brain injury: hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Updated May 14, 2012. Accessed May 29, 2012.
What is CTE? Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy website. Available at:
...(Click grey area to select URL)
Accessed May 29, 2012.

Great stuff! Thanks! Holla!

-stormcentre :

This a very interesting thread with a multitude of excellent comments so I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and take it all in.
But I did want to say this. Did anyone see the sports special about the surviving Chicago Bears championship team...former quarterback Jim McMahon said that football messed him up so bad he takes a hand full of pills everyday and frequently has to call his wife for directions to get back home when he drives around the corner to the local carry out.
I don't know anything about rock fishing but lobster boats reportedly have a high mortality rate and in one year over two dozen people fell to their deaths trying to climb mount Everett.
And I'd rather box than ride a motorcycle any day.

You should learn to do both.
You'd have a much more exciting life.
Ha ha ha . . . . .
Just digging ya in the ribs.
Storm.
:) :) :)

-Domenic :

This a very interesting thread with a multitude of excellent comments so I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and take it all in.
But I did want to say this. Did anyone see the sports special about the surviving Chicago Bears championship team...former quarterback Jim McMahon said that football messed him up so bad he takes a hand full of pills everyday and frequently has to call his wife for directions to get back home when he drives around the corner to the local carry out.
I don't know anything about rock fishing but lobster boats reportedly have a high mortality rate and in one year over two dozen people fell to their deaths trying to climb mount Everett.
And I'd rather box than ride a motorcycle any day.

I remember that. It was on HBO's Real Sports series. Not long ago, they didn't even have a concussion protocol. A guy would incur a concussion and if he wasn't completely KO'd like Tua-Ruiz, he'd trot right back out there and play through it. CTE is a touchy, super sensitive subject for the NFL. Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher both met violent ends potentially due to this. Many more too. I read where a doctor --perhaps a quack but there could be something to this-- suggested that OJ Simpson very likely has CTE, which in part would explain his erratic, violent behavior. The same for Aaron Hernandez. Remember the wrestler Chris Benoit? He strangled his wife and young son then hanged himself. After a posthumous examination, they concluded he had the brain of a 2nd grader, or 80 year old man with severe Alzheimer's. On top of loading up on every steroid in the book, those guys beat the hell out of their bodies, which might explain why the average lifespan of a wrestler is about 40.
Definitely stay tuned to this subject, especially from the perspective of the NFL. You can bet the principal matter for the league's attorneys is this topic, and they're not willingly admitting such. It's the proverbial elephant in the room, a topic that is discussed with whispers. The NFL is big, BIG business and has never been bigger. Calling it a cash cow is an understatement. They can't soften the game; flag football won't sell. So every time a guy goes off the rails and blows his brains out or kills someone else, they're cringing. Because boxing has slid so outside the mainstream in the US (the UFC has surpassed it, sadly, in the eyes of the casual fan), it's not hugely on the radar, yet. But we're in the nanny state like never before, so scrutiny is likely coming.

-joebruno999 :

Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn - ?("Iron Mike" Webster was) a formidable man, at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, who sometimes forgot to eat for days -- sleeping in his battered, black Chevy S-10 pickup truck, a garbage bag duct-taped over the missing window. ?Sometimes he didn?t seem to care,? said Sunny Jani, the primary caregiver the last six years of his life.? ? Greg Garber, ESPN.comThey said he had died of a heart attack,but when I first saw photos of former NFL football legend Mike Webster with his forehead protruding grotesquely and a shelf of scar tissue over his eyebrows, I was pretty certain his issues were more frontal lobe than heart condition. Cardiac arrest may be how he died but not why.You could see it plainly during this interview toward the end. It?s difficult to witness, particularly for those familiar with why Mike was called ?Iron? Mike and this was long before the NFL and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) would be connected through Mike?s death and legacy:? [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY*?Dementia footballistica. This is crazy. This has never been identified before.? --Ronald Hamilton, neuropathologist?[Like dementia pugilistica], it doesn?t get better??You get more and more demented. It?s sad.??--Dr. Fred Jay Krieg,Fast ForwardThe 2015 Sony Pictures movie ?Concussion,? based on an article by Jeanne Marie Lascars titled ?Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever,? was not about boxing, at least not directly. It was about football which has gained more attention thanks to pioneering forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered neurological deterioration similar to Alzheimer?s disease while conducting an autopsy on Mike Webster. Omalu described Webster?s brain as one of ?a boxer, a sufferer of Alzheimer?s...or someone who had suffered a severe head wound." The doctor found that Mike?s brain contained the buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau. This buildup, which is also an Alzheimer?s hallmark, leads to brain cell death. ?Tau was kind of like sludge, clogging up the works, killing cells in regions responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning,? he said.There is no treatment and no cure for CTE. The only known way to prevent it is to avoid repeated head injuries. However, several major research initiatives are underway. Omalu has set out to cure CTE. "You pop a pill before you play, a medicine that prevents the buildup of tau,...like you take an aspirin to prevent heart disease. Why not?,? he says.Thus, and to make a very long story short, there was no other explanation for Webster?s deterioration; the repeated banging of his brain against his skull had damaged the brain?s nerve cells. Amidst controversy (and denial and pushback from the NFL), Omalu named the disorder Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and published his findings in a medical journal. The NFL called his findings flawed. That was then and this is now, and now, as other athletes face the same diagnosis, the crusading doctor has raised public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.* No more denials; no more pushback. The doctor has studied too many brains for any pushback.The film spread the story of CTE?s discovery in football players?and the NFL?s years of alleged inaction. Unable to change the past, the NFL is now focusing on the future, but over the last decade, the league has repeatedly avoided tying football to brain damage, even as it has given disability payments to former players with dementia-related conditions?including Mike Webster (but that?s another shameful story for another day).Yet, in all fairness, the league has clearly taken extra measures in recent years to make the game safer.BoxingAside from a few high-profile doctors like John Stiller, Margaret Goodman, Ray Monsell, Joel Kleinman and others from the Association of Ring Physicians (ARP), no one has really come out in the manner of Bennet Omalu to dramatize the fact that if football produces CTE, what precisely does boxing produce?Tom Moyer, the filmmaker of the riveting (and frightening) documentary ?After the Last Round? says he made the movie because he was so tormented by the head injuries that stripped his boxing cousins of their memories. His goal is to increase awareness so more people will care. The documentary has had minimal distribution, which is a shame. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8Writer Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun touches the tip of the iceberg when he says, ?They [boxers] have no pension; in fact, most walk away with less than nothing, because they leave boxing with less than what they had going in.?Compared to professional football players and with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. Thus, for those who suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy or pugilistic Parkinson?s syndrome, Parkinson?s tremors (which is not as deadly}, or dementia pugilistica (aka boxer?s syndrome), matters won?t improve. Dementia pugilistica is a one-way ticket to Palookaville. While other injuries such as cuts and fractures can be repaired, brain tissue, once damaged, remains irreversibly damaged.The plain fact is Dementia Pugilistica is a variant ofCTE.Football, soccer, rugby, and hockey teams and wrestlers are, for the most part, represented by unions. Boxers have no such collective strength. Unless promoters (see postscript below) and state commissions do something, no one else will. It simply is what it is. But all the hoopla these days is about catch weight, doping, PPV counts, and other things that mask the darker side of boxing?the one in which the thousands of rounds and blows in the gym eventually offset any possible feeling of hope.Except for the elite few who enjoy their place at the tip of the pyramid, most boxers do, in fact, leave the sport with less than what they had going in.Now this is not about Rocky Balboa who was named the seventh greatest movie hero, and who solved the Cold War with Russia by beating the evil Ivan Drago and who, as a 60-year-old, even overcame suspected brain damage to go the distance with Mason Dixon. This is about reality. What happened to Iron Mike Webster was every bit as horrible as what happened to boxing?s Moyer brothers and to the Quarrys. This is about former boxer, sparring partner, and highly respected trainer John Bray who has now been clinically diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas. (Pugilistic Dementia is considered a sub-type of CTE.) John also has Alzheimer?s and Cavum Septum Pellucidum as a result of his boxing career. He is 46.This is a subject that no longer can be ignored by those who essentially run boxing, or by those who write about it, or by those who comment about it. Postscript:The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is in the midst of a multiyear study of professional boxers and their brains to determine just what happens to them, and when, and why, and how and if it can be prevented. The study, which unites Golden Boy, Top Rank, MMA, and U.S. Senators, has enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters with the goal of evaluating 625 by its completion. Participation is completely voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and brain function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for at least four years. It?s a great, great start!Ted Sares is one of the world?s oldest active power lifters and holds several records. He enjoys writing about boxing.
Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn / Check out more boxing news and videos at[url=http://theboxingchannel.com] The Boxing Channel.

They've been talking about health insurance for boxers for years now and nothing's been done. Very simply, take a percentage out of each promoter's take, (not the boxer's take) for each fight card and apply to to the premiums for a universal insurance plan that covers all licensed boxers who fight in the United States. To do this, we need a Federal Boxing Commission. The concept has been tossed around for decades, but no one, as of yet, has the balls to do anything about it.

-joebruno999 :

They've been talking about health insurance for boxers for years now and nothing's been done. Very simply, take a percentage out of each promoter's take, (not the boxer's take) for each fight card and apply to to the premiums for a universal insurance plan that covers all licensed boxers who fight in the United States. To do this, we need a Federal Boxing Commission. The concept has been tossed around for decades, but no one, as of yet, has the balls to do anything about it.

-dollar bond :

Wow!! Great research. I'm going to watch that one on Red Box based on your description. Thanks for an enjoyable read but that photo of Webster is troubling. The protruding forehead and scar tissue is very noticeable and frightening.

-Kid Blast :

There is a more frightening photo but it's no longer available. It put the willies in me. This great man from the heartland reduced to a tormented soul who lived in car and was in terrible pain and who used a Taser to put himself to sleep. Horrendous end to a great career and great person.

-Kid Blast :

I remember that. It was on HBO's Real Sports series. Not long ago, they didn't even have a concussion protocol. A guy would incur a concussion and if he wasn't completely KO'd like Tua-Ruiz, he'd trot right back out there and play through it. CTE is a touchy, super sensitive subject for the NFL. Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher both met violent ends potentially due to this. Many more too. I read where a doctor --perhaps a quack but there could be something to this-- suggested that OJ Simpson very likely has CTE, which in part would explain his erratic, violent behavior. The same for Aaron Hernandez. Remember the wrestler Chris Benoit? He strangled his wife and young son then hanged himself. After a posthumous examination, they concluded he had the brain of a 2nd grader, or 80 year old man with severe Alzheimer's. On top of loading up on every steroid in the book, those guys beat the hell out of their bodies, which might explain why the average lifespan of a wrestler is about 40.
Definitely stay tuned to this subject, especially from the perspective of the NFL. You can bet the principal matter for the league's attorneys is this topic, and they're not willingly admitting such. It's the proverbial elephant in the room, a topic that is discussed with whispers. The NFL is big, BIG business and has never been bigger. Calling it a cash cow is an understatement. They can't soften the game; flag football won't sell. So every time a guy goes off the rails and blows his brains out or kills someone else, they're cringing. Because boxing has slid so outside the mainstream in the US (the UFC has surpassed it, sadly, in the eyes of the casual fan), it's not hugely on the radar, yet. But we're in the nanny state like never before, so scrutiny is likely coming.

Great stuff.
Some names that have pooped up are: Willie Wood, Tony Dorsett, and deceased (many by suicide) Chris Henry, Andre Water, Junior Sea, Dave Duerson, Ken Stabler. Michael keck, Justin Strzelzyk, Terry Long, John Grimsley, Ralph Wenzel, and many others.
And I quote:
"▪ A postmortem analysis of the brain of Jovan Belcher, the Chiefs linebacker who killed his girlfriend in December 2012 in a murder-suicide, found that the 25-year-old linebacker probably was suffering from CTE. He is among the youngest known players to have the disease. (Read more here.)
▪ New York Giants safety Tyler Sash, 27, died of an accidental overdose of medications in September. His mother, who had seen his irregular behavior and periods of confusion and memory loss, said her son knew something was wrong. It was CTE, which had advanced to a stage rarely seen in someone his age.
▪ Former New York Giants running back and broadcaster Frank Gifford, who died last August, had CTE, as his family had suspected.
▪ Ray Easterling, a former safety for the Atlanta Falcons, was depressed and suffering from apparent dementia when he shot himself in 2012. An autopsy found CTE in his brain. “It amazed me to think about what he dealt with every day inside his head,” said his widow, Mary Ann."
Read more here: ->http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/article58501703.html#storylink=cpy

-brownsugar :

I remember that. It was on HBO's Real Sports series. Not long ago, they didn't even have a concussion protocol. A guy would incur a concussion and if he wasn't completely KO'd like Tua-Ruiz, he'd trot right back out there and play through it. CTE is a touchy, super sensitive subject for the NFL. Junior Seau and Jovan Belcher both met violent ends potentially due to this. Many more too. I read where a doctor --perhaps a quack but there could be something to this-- suggested that OJ Simpson very likely has CTE, which in part would explain his erratic, violent behavior. The same for Aaron Hernandez. Remember the wrestler Chris Benoit? He strangled his wife and young son then hanged himself. After a posthumous examination, they concluded he had the brain of a 2nd grader, or 80 year old man with severe Alzheimer's. On top of loading up on every steroid in the book, those guys beat the hell out of their bodies, which might explain why the average lifespan of a wrestler is about 40.
Definitely stay tuned to this subject, especially from the perspective of the NFL. You can bet the principal matter for the league's attorneys is this topic, and they're not willingly admitting such. It's the proverbial elephant in the room, a topic that is discussed with whispers. The NFL is big, BIG business and has never been bigger. Calling it a cash cow is an understatement. They can't soften the game; flag football won't sell. So every time a guy goes off the rails and blows his brains out or kills someone else, they're cringing. Because boxing has slid so outside the mainstream in the US (the UFC has surpassed it, sadly, in the eyes of the casual fan), it's not hugely on the radar, yet. But we're in the nanny state like never before, so scrutiny is likely coming.

That's an impressively articulated post Domenic. You hit the nail on the dead center. I wish I could remember the channel I saw that on....maybe HBO or Showtime. But the entire remaining Championship Series Chicago Bears players (even the Fridge) were hobbling around in a half-way incoherent fog like shell-shocked WWII Vets. ...nobody who saw that show, nobody who ever fantasized about making it to the NFL could possibly have any remaining sense of envy after seeing those guys. I'd much rather have been an NFL Janitor than trade places with any of those guys.
I saw a report where the NFL was in the process of training players to tackle like Rugby players, who place their head on the outside of the legs and use the shoulder when they tackle like a wrestler would instead of using their heads like torpedoes. Many schools have supposedly adopted the technique. Great post.

-brownsugar :

You should learn to do both.
You'd have a much more exciting life.
Ha ha ha . . . . .
Just digging ya in the ribs.
Storm.
:) :) :)

Lol...
My fear of heights and two wheelers is renown...

-King Beef :

Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn - ?("Iron Mike" Webster was) a formidable man, at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, who sometimes forgot to eat for days -- sleeping in his battered, black Chevy S-10 pickup truck, a garbage bag duct-taped over the missing window. ?Sometimes he didn?t seem to care,? said Sunny Jani, the primary caregiver the last six years of his life.? ? Greg Garber, ESPN.comThey said he had died of a heart attack,but when I first saw photos of former NFL football legend Mike Webster with his forehead protruding grotesquely and a shelf of scar tissue over his eyebrows, I was pretty certain his issues were more frontal lobe than heart condition. Cardiac arrest may be how he died but not why.You could see it plainly during this interview toward the end. It?s difficult to witness, particularly for those familiar with why Mike was called ?Iron? Mike and this was long before the NFL and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) would be connected through Mike?s death and legacy:? [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY*?Dementia footballistica. This is crazy. This has never been identified before.? --Ronald Hamilton, neuropathologist?[Like dementia pugilistica], it doesn?t get better??You get more and more demented. It?s sad.??--Dr. Fred Jay Krieg,Fast ForwardThe 2015 Sony Pictures movie ?Concussion,? based on an article by Jeanne Marie Lascars titled ?Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever,? was not about boxing, at least not directly. It was about football which has gained more attention thanks to pioneering forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered neurological deterioration similar to Alzheimer?s disease while conducting an autopsy on Mike Webster. Omalu described Webster?s brain as one of ?a boxer, a sufferer of Alzheimer?s...or someone who had suffered a severe head wound." The doctor found that Mike?s brain contained the buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau. This buildup, which is also an Alzheimer?s hallmark, leads to brain cell death. ?Tau was kind of like sludge, clogging up the works, killing cells in regions responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning,? he said.There is no treatment and no cure for CTE. The only known way to prevent it is to avoid repeated head injuries. However, several major research initiatives are underway. Omalu has set out to cure CTE. "You pop a pill before you play, a medicine that prevents the buildup of tau,...like you take an aspirin to prevent heart disease. Why not?,? he says.Thus, and to make a very long story short, there was no other explanation for Webster?s deterioration; the repeated banging of his brain against his skull had damaged the brain?s nerve cells. Amidst controversy (and denial and pushback from the NFL), Omalu named the disorder Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and published his findings in a medical journal. The NFL called his findings flawed. That was then and this is now, and now, as other athletes face the same diagnosis, the crusading doctor has raised public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.* No more denials; no more pushback. The doctor has studied too many brains for any pushback.The film spread the story of CTE?s discovery in football players?and the NFL?s years of alleged inaction. Unable to change the past, the NFL is now focusing on the future, but over the last decade, the league has repeatedly avoided tying football to brain damage, even as it has given disability payments to former players with dementia-related conditions?including Mike Webster (but that?s another shameful story for another day).Yet, in all fairness, the league has clearly taken extra measures in recent years to make the game safer.BoxingAside from a few high-profile doctors like John Stiller, Margaret Goodman, Ray Monsell, Joel Kleinman and others from the Association of Ring Physicians (ARP), no one has really come out in the manner of Bennet Omalu to dramatize the fact that if football produces CTE, what precisely does boxing produce?Tom Moyer, the filmmaker of the riveting (and frightening) documentary ?After the Last Round? says he made the movie because he was so tormented by the head injuries that stripped his boxing cousins of their memories. His goal is to increase awareness so more people will care. The documentary has had minimal distribution, which is a shame. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8Writer Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun touches the tip of the iceberg when he says, ?They [boxers] have no pension; in fact, most walk away with less than nothing, because they leave boxing with less than what they had going in.?Compared to professional football players and with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. Thus, for those who suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy or pugilistic Parkinson?s syndrome, Parkinson?s tremors (which is not as deadly}, or dementia pugilistica (aka boxer?s syndrome), matters won?t improve. Dementia pugilistica is a one-way ticket to Palookaville. While other injuries such as cuts and fractures can be repaired, brain tissue, once damaged, remains irreversibly damaged.The plain fact is Dementia Pugilistica is a variant ofCTE.Football, soccer, rugby, and hockey teams and wrestlers are, for the most part, represented by unions. Boxers have no such collective strength. Unless promoters (see postscript below) and state commissions do something, no one else will. It simply is what it is. But all the hoopla these days is about catch weight, doping, PPV counts, and other things that mask the darker side of boxing?the one in which the thousands of rounds and blows in the gym eventually offset any possible feeling of hope.Except for the elite few who enjoy their place at the tip of the pyramid, most boxers do, in fact, leave the sport with less than what they had going in.Now this is not about Rocky Balboa who was named the seventh greatest movie hero, and who solved the Cold War with Russia by beating the evil Ivan Drago and who, as a 60-year-old, even overcame suspected brain damage to go the distance with Mason Dixon. This is about reality. What happened to Iron Mike Webster was every bit as horrible as what happened to boxing?s Moyer brothers and to the Quarrys. This is about former boxer, sparring partner, and highly respected trainer John Bray who has now been clinically diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas. (Pugilistic Dementia is considered a sub-type of CTE.) John also has Alzheimer?s and Cavum Septum Pellucidum as a result of his boxing career. He is 46.This is a subject that no longer can be ignored by those who essentially run boxing, or by those who write about it, or by those who comment about it. Postscript:The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is in the midst of a multiyear study of professional boxers and their brains to determine just what happens to them, and when, and why, and how and if it can be prevented. The study, which unites Golden Boy, Top Rank, MMA, and U.S. Senators, has enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters with the goal of evaluating 625 by its completion. Participation is completely voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and brain function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for at least four years. It?s a great, great start!Ted Sares is one of the world?s oldest active power lifters and holds several records. He enjoys writing about boxing.
Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn / Check out more boxing news and videos at[url=http://theboxingchannel.com] The Boxing Channel.

Another interesting post; this is truly a complex subject because of boxing's nature. As soon as I read this my mind went immediately to Tim Bradley after the Provodnikov fight.
After reading this, I looked for more info, as well as the links everyone posted as well...eye opening stuff.
One article I saw says at least 90% of all boxers suffer from some type of brain injury albeit this was from 2013, so I wonder if those finding still hold up.
->http://www.thenewsoutlet.org/90-percent-of-boxers-suffer-brain-injuries-only-sport-without-concussion-policy/
I find it hard to believe that there is no protocol here what so ever, hell, even MMA has the 28 day to a few month suspensions when I fighter get K.O'd or takes excessive punishment and gets stopped. (now whether the fighters actually follow the no contact for a specific time is another question) and according to Frank Warren, they have similar protocol in the U.K.?? but nothing across the board.
I am reading that "gym wars" are also being thrown in there, along with other things as probable causes just as much as the fight itself.
In that one article when they liken boxing to being hit with a padded 12 pound wooden mallet going upwards of 20mph, over the course of 12 rounds....I can see how it would make a person cringe.

-King Beef :

Lol...
My fear of heights and two wheelers is renown...

lol, alittle fear is good when dealing with that much power.....but there is nothing like going from 0 to triple digits with the flick of the wrist.

-Kid Blast :

This a very interesting thread with a multitude of excellent comments so I'm just going to sit on the sidelines and take it all in.
But I did want to say this. Did anyone see the sports special about the surviving Chicago Bears championship team...former quarterback Jim McMahon said that football messed him up so bad he takes a hand full of pills everyday and frequently has to call his wife for directions to get back home when he drives around the corner to the local carry out.
I don't know anything about rock fishing but lobster boats reportedly have a high mortality rate and in one year over two dozen people fell to their deaths trying to climb mount Everett.
And I'd rather box than ride a motorcycle any day.

I'm doing the same and just enjoying the comments and learning from them.

-stormcentre :

Another interesting post; this is truly a complex subject because of boxing's nature. As soon as I read this my mind went immediately to Tim Bradley after the Provodnikov fight.
After reading this, I looked for more info, as well as the links everyone posted as well...eye opening stuff.
One article I saw says at least 90% of all boxers suffer from some type of brain injury albeit this was from 2013, so I wonder if those finding still hold up.
->http://www.thenewsoutlet.org/90-percent-of-boxers-suffer-brain-injuries-only-sport-without-concussion-policy/
I find it hard to believe that there is no protocol here what so ever, hell, even MMA has the 28 day to a few month suspensions when I fighter get K.O'd or takes excessive punishment and gets stopped. (now whether the fighters actually follow the no contact for a specific time is another question) and according to Frank Warren, they have similar protocol in the U.K.?? but nothing across the board.
I am reading that "gym wars" are also being thrown in there, along with other things as probable causes just as much as the fight itself.
In that one article when they liken boxing to being hit with a padded 12 pound wooden mallet going upwards of 20mph, over the course of 12 rounds....I can see how it would make a person cringe.

Good point.
Tim really did suffer, and he did the right thing in response too.
I don't think you're allowed to fight for a certain time period after being knocked out, but I am also pretty sure that in America - especially with all the commissions and various rules you have over there - you can sidestep that policy.
It's not a good idea though.
I know plenty of guys that have;

A) Taken too many shots in the head.
B) Sparred too long without head gear.
C) Been in too many gym wars.

Every boxer should see the (is it the?) Nigel Benn V Gerald McLellon (spelling?) fight, if for no other reason than to realize the dangers.
Also, there used to be a video getting around that showed what happened to the brain when it got punched.
Despite how ugly it is, that's a pretty good video for boxers to watch too; as it just lets you know that the dangers are real.
Storm.
:) :)

-stormcentre :

lol, alittle fear is good when dealing with that much power.....but there is nothing like going from 0 to triple digits with the flick of the wrist.

Agree.
It's addictive.
To temper the addiction it's always good to go through a walk of the emergency section of a hospital every now/then just to see what can happen.
Or watch a few serious YouTube videos on the subject, just so the ego gets suitably reigned in.
Still, (I say, and perhaps rather foolishly, given I am in a forum where fantasy/fiction is absolutely out of control, un-moderated, and completely rampant for some) everything in moderation.
Love it !!!
Storm.
:) :) :)

-The Tijuana Kid :

He can also see the ill effects of CTE in professional wrestlers. Guys like Mick Foley, Stonecold Steve Austin, Bret Hart who suffered many concussions. They admit today that they suffer from memory loss. Couple that with the drugs and drinking most wrestlers do and it's not a good combination. Of course, Chris Benoit being the most notrious example in wrestling. He's the guy that killed his wife, son and himself.
In football things can be done to reduce CTE. In boxing nothing can be done except for banning it. But anyone who puts that football helmet on or steps into the ring knows the consequences. It's a way to make a living and they have to live with that decision. I wouldn't want my son to become a football player or boxer. It's becoming very difficult to watch these two sports for excitement and entertainment.

-Radam G :

He can also see the ill effects of CTE in professional wrestlers. Guys like Mick Foley, Stonecold Steve Austin, Bret Hart who suffered many concussions. They admit today that they suffer from memory loss. Couple that with the drugs and drinking most wrestlers do and it's not a good combination. Of course, Chris Benoit being the most notrious example in wrestling. He's the guy that killed his wife, son and himself.
In football things can be done to reduce CTE. In boxing nothing can be done except for banning it. But anyone who puts that football helmet on or steps into the ring knows the consequences. It's a way to make a living and they have to live with that decision. I wouldn't want my son to become a football player or boxer. It's becoming very difficult to watch these two sports for excitement and entertainment.

TTK, there are a lot of variables involved that include diet, medical nutrition, genetics, and if the person had ever used dangerous PEDs and steroids.
There are several male and female models who have brain and body issues from taking dat syet -- PEDs and roids -- to become body beautiful and/or to perform for long hours. I don't want to call out names. Maybe somebody else who is in the industry or is familiar with the genres will drop a name or two.
CTE and CTE-like ailments are apparently stealthly attacking many rough-touch sports and professions. Holla!

-Kid Blast :

Webster was the proto-type clean cut athlete who amazed his teammates with his weightlifting exploits. and all-around practice routine. He was quite literally the first one on the field and the last one off. No diet issues. No drugs. No drinking. Just too many Tau cells as a result of too many hits to the head.
Lyle Alzado might be an example of someone who took too many PEDS. ->https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lyle+alzado+steroids&view=detail&mid=3F825A97F8BDD9B21EAC3F825A97F8BDD9B21EAC&FORM=VIRE
The mortality rate of body builders and weight lifters is not good.

-deepwater2 :

Webster was the proto-type clean cut athlete who amazed his teammates with his weightlifting exploits. and all-around practice routine. He was quite literally the first one on the field and the last one off. No diet issues. No drugs. No drinking. Just too may Tau cells as a result of too many hits to the head.
Lyle Alzado might be an example of someone who took too many PEDS. ->https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lyle+alzado+steroids&view=detail&mid=3F825A97F8BDD9B21EAC3F825A97F8BDD9B21EAC&FORM=VIRE
The mortality rate of body builders and weight lifters is not good.

I can't believe Dorian Yates is alive

-Kid Blast :

I can't believe Dorian Yates is alive

Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates is an English professional bodybuilder. He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997 and holds the fourth-highest number of Mr. Olympia awards of all time, ranking behind Ronnie Coleman, Lee Haney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is widely considered one of the top athletes in modern bodybuilding history.

-Kid Blast :

"with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. "
How about starting with basic health insurance, PAID BY THE PROMOTERS and ARENA and
TV STATIONS that show the fights. They are making money on the boxers, ffs sake how about
a little protection for them!

How about some help post-boxing. This is something I always wanted to do but never got aropund to it. ?If you?re transitioning out of something, you should always have something you?re transitioning into. You should always have future goals. Even if it?s just setting up trips to go travel. Because stopping cold turkey, that?s a slippery slope".
I have great experience in the transitioning business and could have put that to use when I myself retired. But the issue is that the boxers must want it becuase you can lead a hores to water but you cannot make it drink.

-FrankinDallas :

How about some help post-boxing. This is something I always wanted to do but never got aropund to it. ?If you?re transitioning out of something, you should always have something you?re transitioning into. You should always have future goals. Even if it?s just setting up trips to go travel. Because stopping cold turkey, that?s a slippery slope".
I have great experience in the transitioning business and could have put that to use when I myself retired. But the issue is that the boxers must want it becuase you can lead a hores to water but you cannot make it drink.

I'm all for free will, but in the case of boxers.....let's be honest, many of them have no idea what to do with money. I'd force (yes FORCE)
putting 10% of any purse into a yield or interest bearing account. I don't care if it's $10, make them put it into some sort of investment
vehicle that they can't touch till they are either 50 yrs old or can prove they are unable to work.
Hell, Treasury Bonds are better investment than whores. Well, most of the time, anyway.

-Kid Blast :

I'm all for free will, but in the case of boxers.....let's be honest, many of them have no idea what to do with money. I'd force (yes FORCE)
putting 10% of any purse into a yield or interest bearing account. I don't care if it's $10, make them put it into some sort of investment
vehicle that they can't touch till they are either 50 yrs old or can prove they are unable to work.
Hell, Treasury Bonds are better investment than whores. Well, most of the time, anyway.

Point taken and made. Someting is better than nothing.

-King Beef :

Good point.
Tim really did suffer, and he did the right thing in response too.
I don't think you're allowed to fight for a certain time period after being knocked out, but I am also pretty sure that in America - especially with all the commissions and various rules you have over there - you can sidestep that policy.
It's not a good idea though.
I know plenty of guys that have;

A) Taken too many shots in the head.
B) Sparred too long without head gear.
C) Been in too many gym wars.

Every boxer should see the (is it the?) Nigel Benn V Gerald McLellon (spelling?) fight, if for no other reason than to realize the dangers.
Also, there used to be a video getting around that showed what happened to the brain when it got punched.
Despite how ugly it is, that's a pretty good video for boxers to watch too; as it just lets you know that the dangers are real.
Storm.
:) :)

That fight was a barn burner, but hard to re-watch knowing the end results for McClellan.

-Kid Blast :

I refuse to watch it to this day. Once was enough. Simply too edgy and scary for my taste. Watching G-Man blink is a horrible reminder of what can go wrong in there.

Concussions in sports reminds me of the book "The Arm" I'm currently reading on baseball injuries to the UCL tendon. Just like it's NOT natural and healthy to take blows to the head, it also isn't natural to throw a baseball overhand every five days at 90-100 mph. Obviously, concussions are more serious. A pitcher blows out their UCL and their arm is damaged. Multiple concussions can leave a person dramatically changed for life.

-Radam G :

Concussions in sports reminds me of the book "The Arm" I'm currently reading on baseball injuries to the UCL tendon. Just like it's NOT natural and healthy to take blows to the head, it also isn't natural to throw a baseball overhand every five days at 90-100 mph. Obviously, concussions are more serious. A pitcher blows out their UCL and their arm is damaged. Multiple concussions can leave a person dramatically changed for life.

The pug has multi whammies. He also may develop shoulder, arm and hand problems from pitching, throwing and shooting punches upside noggins and into torsos in bouts and sparring. Holla!

-Radam G :

Also just how often boxers may get hip, knee and ankle injuries must be pointed out. Boxing can be a full-body damaging sport. Per any sport.
I believe that boxers can and do suffer the most type of injuries -- physically and psychologically -- the brains, the eyes, the kidneys,the nose, the liver, and ever single bone and ligament in his anatomy, including the toes. Holla!

-dollar bond :

The toes? WTF

-JohnnyTango :

The toes? WTF

Dollar bond: Yes, the toe! Don't you remember David Haye and the toe injury excuse?

-Radam G :

Dollar bond: Yes, the toe! Don't you remember David Haye and the toe injury excuse?

Hehehe! You got jokes! That one is classic. Holla!

-Kid Blast :

"TMZ obtained footage that shows some of the July 27 ATV chase [Tre] Mason led Palm Beach Police on, and it features a conversation between Mason?s mom and two officers. When police told Mason?s mother Tre should be playing football, she disagreed and noted that head injuries have left her son with a ?10-year-old?s mindset.?
Looks to be another CTE victim. Now is the time for interdiction--before it is too late. NOW!!!

-dollar bond :

THANKS jOHNNY. Now that you mention it I do remember. it wascalled Toegate, wasn't it?

-Kid Blast :

Check this out
->https://www.facebook.com/myke.ford.9/posts/10206926084019324
->https://www.boxingnewsandviews.com/2016/07/28/dangers-of-boxing-on-the-brain/

-Kid Blast :

" On Sunday Sept 25th the Boston Film Festival is hosting the Boston debut showing of "Unforgotten, The Story of Paul Pender". The movie has been on the European Film Festival circuit and has won multiple awards. I saw a sneak preview and will say with all honesty and great prejudice that it's a terrific movie.
"Those of you who knew [about] Paul know he was a special kind of guy in many ways. Sure, he was a great boxer who fought and beat the iron of his day including Hall of Famers Sugar Ray Robinson and Carmen Basilio. He also was a highly intellectual and principled guy, plus he had guts that went beyond the ring as he spoke out about crooked promoters, managers and the mafia.
"There's lots more to learn about Paul and the strange twist of fate that will cement Paul's legacy and his contribution to sports and mankind. That's a strong statement but I'm not exaggerating. I'm hoping many of you can find the time to come to the showing on September 25th to hear the surprise ending to the story. Below is a link for the details."
->https://bostonfilmfestival.ticketleap.com/unforgotten-the-paul-pender-story/

-Kid Blast :

You might be surprised to learn that the index case for the study of CTE is the brain of Middleweight Boxing Champion Paul Pender.
In 2003, long before athletes were donating their brains to medical research, Rose Pender made the brave decision to donate her husband's brain to Boston University's Brain Research Study. Rose thought that given Paul's profession, his brain donation was important if it could help other people.
Paul was diagnosed as having suffered from stage 4 CTE.
His brain was the beginning of the legendary study of athletes brains at BU. Since then, hundreds of athletes in all sports have agreed to donate their brains to medical research. Paul Pender's brain remains the index case for the study of CTE at BU.
Paul's story is told in the new documentary, 'Unforgotten, The Story of Paul Pender.'
To learn more go to: ->https://vimeo.com/103853517
->www.facebook.com/unforgottenchamp

To be precise about the origin of CTE, eminent boxing doctor John Stiller states, “Dr. Omalu deserves credit for standing up to the NFL and others and for officially reporting "CTE" in an NFL player. However, he was not the first to describe either the principle neuropathological features of "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy" (CTE) or the first to use the term CTE to describe this type of chronic brain damage likely the result of repetitive concussive and subconcussive brain traumas.
"The principle neuropathological features were described in the seminal report of ex-boxers diagnosed with Dementia Pugilistica or punch drunk syndrome by JAN Corsellis, a renowned British Neuropathologist, and colleagues in 1973 (Corsellis, J. A., Bruton, C. J. & Freeman-Browne, D. The aftermath of boxing. Psychol. Med. 3, 270–303 (1973))
"The term chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers was used by MacDonald Critchley the eminent British Neurologist in a paper published in 1949 (Punch-drunk syndromes: the chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers. In: Hommage ? Clovis Vincent. Paris. Critchley, M (1949) ) and again in a paper published in 1957 (Medical aspects of boxing, particularly from a neurological standpoint. Br Med J 1957; 1: 357 Critchley, M (1957) ."

-JohnnyTango :

Why did you include that last post, Ted the Bull?

-Kid Blast :

Why did you include that last post, Ted the Bull?

An oversight on my part

-Kid Blast :

Well this just tears it. Unbelievable.
->https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/13/trump-just-criticized-the-nfls-softer-rules-intended-to-help-protect-players-from-traumatic-brain-injury/?wpisrc=nl_az_most

-larueboenig :

He is insane

-dollar bond :

It seems he sees himself as very macho. Rich kid's delusionary self-assessment I suspect. What a moron.

-FrankinDallas :

He's been dinged on the head too many times himself.

-Kid Blast :

It seems he sees himself as very macho. Rich kid's delusionary self-assessment I suspect. What a moron.

What bugs me the most is his rich lid attitude about macho sports.
->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-8rchU5ag
->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEITsfVpie0
->http://news.sky.com/story/handheld-scanners-could-detect-brain-bleeds-and-save-boxers-lives-10621785

-larueboenig :

His hubris makes my blood boil. He is such a hip shooter.

-amayseng :

This subject is close to my heart.
I have rehabbed TBI's for years.
However, I am now dealing with it on a personal level as my son this past July 5th had an accident on his atv. Fractured skull, TBI, brain bleeding which lead to him being life flighted and life saving craniotomy surgery. We spent 15 days in the hospital until coming home where we continued cognitive rehab, physical therapy and speech therapy.
Lucky for my son he should recover 100% by next summer but I have witnessed the worst of it in reverse to the example of this thread where one watches deterioration progress. I have instead blessedly watched my son heal over time. From going from requiring 2 people max assist for gait training and the inability to move his right side or give you the steps on how to make a pb and jelly sandwich, he is now near normal despite some remaining deficits.
I wholeheartingly agree with NO football. It is not worth the risk.
As far as boxing wear headgear and 16 oz gloves and stick to sparring or the amateurs unless you are a phenom talent.
Life is dangerous and I think you should do what you love as long as you can, but when you have kids that ideology is hard to stay with.
I also knew Mike Webster, I grew up with his son in Peters Township pa, we went to school together, Mike and his family were wonderful.

-Kid Blast :

This subject is close to my heart.
I have rehabbed TBI's for years.
However, I am now dealing with it on a personal level as my son this past July 5th had an accident on his atv. Fractured skull, TBI, brain bleeding which lead to him being life flighted and life saving craniotomy surgery. We spent 15 days in the hospital until coming home where we continued cognitive rehab, physical therapy and speech therapy.
Lucky for my son he should recover 100% by next summer but I have witnessed the worst of it in reverse to the example of this thread where one watches deterioration progress. I have instead blessedly watched my son heal over time. From going from requiring 2 people max assist for gait training and the inability to move his right side or give you the steps on how to make a pb and jelly sandwich, he is now near normal despite some remaining deficits.
I wholeheartingly agree with NO football. It is not worth the risk.
As far as boxing wear headgear and 16 oz gloves and stick to sparring or the amateurs unless you are a phenom talent.
Life is dangerous and I think you should do what you love as long as you can, but when you have kids that ideology is hard to stay with.
I also knew Mike Webster, I grew up with his son in Peters Township pa, we went to school together, Mike and his family were wonderful.

I'm glad your son recovered, mate. I had a subdural hematoma about 6 years ago and the attendant brain bleed. It all took place over a period of about 7 days. First I thought I was getting migraines but nothing stopped the headaches. Then, I had tremendous pressure behind my eyes. I finally was unable to type a sentence and could not button my shirt so I drove to the hospital and they thought I had a stroke but an MRI showed the bleeding. I was then rushed to Maine Medical where I was on the operating table within one hour and where they drilled into my skull to relieve the pressure and get the blood out. I remained hospitalized for 5 days and then reco9vered over a period of several weeks. That's when I decided to get back to power lifting to b boost my self-confidence,
The entire experience came out of the blue and was surreal. I was out of it most of the time so that kept me from b being scared. I was more curious than anything. I remember asking the surgeon what my chances were and he replied "it's a no brainer".

-Kid Blast :

“That woman [a Trump supporter who fainted] was out cold, and now she’s coming back…See, we don’t go by these new, and very much softer, NFL [National Football League] rules. Concussions — ‘Uh oh, got a little ding on the head? No, no, you can’t play for the rest of the season’ — our people are tough.”—Donald Trump from the podium at a recent rally in Lakeland, Florida, See: ->https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/10/13/trump-just-criticized-the-nfls-softer-rules-intended-to-help-protect-players-from-traumatic-brain-injury/?wpisrc=nl_az_most
“... Trump’s dismissal of the concussion protocol “demeans and disparages people with brain injuries.”- Michael V. Kaplen, who specializes in the legal issues surrounding brain injury -
Concussions are more than a “little ding in the head”. 40% of former NFL players suffer from brain injuries new studies show. There is no such thing as a non-serious concussion The NFL acknowledged a link between football and degenerative brain diseases such as the dreaded Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which is associated with symptoms such as depression and memory loss. See: ->http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/article58501703.html
Nick Blackwell on the far left and an emotional Dale Evans second from left at Mike Towell’s funeral.
When “The Donald” says “Concussions — ‘uh oh, got a little ding on the head”? He needs to tell that to the relatives of Mike Towell, Johnny Owens, Lyn James, Mick Pinkney, Steve Watt, Bradley Stone, Mark Goult, Jimmy Murray, David Browne, Braydon Smith, and many others. He needs to talk with Chris Henry, Spencer Oliver, Paul Ingle, Rod Douglass, Michael Watson, and Nick Blackwell---and with Gerald McClellan, Wilfred Ben?tez, and John Bray.
Trump needs to point out his view on concussions to the relatives of the many CTE sufferers in football who have committed suicide like Jovan Belcher, Ray Easterling, Junior Sea and Dave Duerson.
Now, at a time when raising awareness about these injuries is critical to further studies, a man running for President of the United States has the hubris to make light of them.

-dollar bond :

Bombs away on Trump. Nice timing Bull. LMAO

-Kid Blast :

So much for timing :confused:
Now this just in: ->http://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/38458724

"It's not like this is a few years on - it's eight months ago. This is madness, total madness."
->http://www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2016/11/29/nick-blackwell-stable-condition-operation-following-sparring/
In a sick sort of way, the significance of the terrible event is that it will be recorded in the medical journals as further proof that bran bleeds are nothing to mess around with. Eduard Gutknecht is still another who will now have to retire assuming he makes a recovery from surgery.

-JTC :

Great article. Sares is so varied in his articles. Concussion is a big thing in sport now. Check out Rugby's rules on it. Interesting stuff and thus does need further help from the authorities. Sweet piece Ted.

-Kid Blast :

WOW! Great to see you on here Johnny. Always nice to have my Pom chums giver their views. And thanks for the props. I think this one has sparked the interests of the medical profession and maybe the footfall union. I think--but don't really know.
I'm going to do a follow-up for a football site down the road because the incidents of rage/and or football suicides has increased.
Adrian Robinson committed suicide and was diagnosed as having CTE. On October 14, 2015, Robinson's family announced that a diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was confirmed through officials at the Concussion Legacy Foundation at Boston University
And this:
->http://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/article58501703.html

-JTC :

Sares. This is massive. But boxing is a different breed. Do the authorities give a ****? I'm not sure. Anything that brings this to the fore is great. Props to thee Sir Ted.
Happy I'm able to post now. From this side of the pond; you have a big audience my friend. 👊

-Domenic :

The NFL is frightened of this issue. Frightened. Boxing gets a pass because it's fallen so outside the mainstream these days, but the CTE issue isn't going away. I'm not a doctor, far from it, but there's something there.

-Kid Blast :

The NFL is frightened of this issue. Frightened. Boxing gets a pass because it's fallen so outside the mainstream these days, but the CTE issue isn't going away. I'm not a doctor, far from it, but there's something there.

Absolutely Dominic. But boxing needs more attention on this subject. Of course, without a union, they are at a terrible disadvantage. Nevertheless, when boxers die, their brains need to be donated for study and research.
As for football, check out these two links:
->http://www.sbnation.com/2016/4/18/11451036/nfl-concussion-settlement-cte
And this tragic one: ->http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/03/health/kevin-turner-cte-diagnosis/

-Kid Blast :

Sares. This is massive. But boxing is a different breed. Do the authorities give a ****? I'm not sure. Anything that brings this to the fore is great. Props to thee Sir Ted.
Happy I'm able to post now. From this side of the pond; you have a big audience my friend.

That's very nice of you, matey. Very nice. Makes a lot of the work worthwhile.

-JohnnyTango :

FYI: ->http://digg.com/2016/boxers-cte-brain-damage

-Kid Blast :

FYI: ->http://digg.com/2016/boxers-cte-brain-damage

Given what happened to Edwin Valero and the unheeded warnings, I think the recent Paul Spadafora incident warrants a closer look than authorities might give it. Yes, he is an alleged criminal, but the reason(s) could be a combination of things including brain damage.
The above-referenced and chilling article is as good as it gets when it comes to boxing and brain damage. Many take on issues as if they are on a Crusade. This is such an issue for me and has been for almost 15 years.
This just in and it's good news:
->http://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/38418559

-Kid Blast :

These two links should put a cap on this subject for now unless something bad happens in boxing. In fact, the very worse thing that could happen and endanger the continuing existence of the sport would be that some one on PEDS is involved in a fight where his or her opponent is fatally or critically injured. In my view, that could be the death knell.
This one is a video recap of pretty much what was in my article except that they have the particular sports in reverse: ->http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/us/boxing-is-a-brutal-fading-sport-could-football-be-next.html?_r=0
This one indicated that the NFL settlement re concussions has finally been resolved and is now ongoing. ->http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/15229132/appeals-court-upholds-1-billion-nfl-concussion-settlement
After all is said and done, much credit must go to the Nigerian doctor who stayed the course and simply would not let the issue go.
May God bless Mike Webster who was hugely popular in Pittsburgh. That fact may account for the inordinate number of hits on this thread.

-enorman5 :

Great articles here! Looking forward to read more :)
I'm holding a small local boxing tournament also on the parking in front of my restaurant (->http://www.demaestro.nl/).
So far, a lot of people have shown interest. Probably because this is not really usual for my country :D

-miguel1 :

Ted, great article, great discussion. Sorry I didnt chime in earlier :)

-Kid Blast :

It may be that some ex-NFL football players are using this article (and especially the links in the threads) as a source of reference when they apply for funds under the recent NFL concussion settlement. That might account for the large number of hits.

-Kid Blast :

Thank you Miguel and ENORMAN5

-Kid Blast :

I cannot get on this thread via TSS ARGHH ERAGHH I have to access it via Facebook.

-miguel1 :

Ive forwarded your emails to the guy Ted.

-Kid Blast :

The issue might be on my side because all of my articles are inaccessible. I'll get it sorted. Thanks, Amigo

-KO Digest :

Citing stage two CTE, Lowell's Joey McCreedy is hanging up the gloves.
After all those beatings in the ring, he says he's starting to forget things...

-Kid Blast :

Citing stage two CTE, Lowell's Joey McCreedy is hanging up the gloves.
After all those beatings in the ring, he says he's starting to forget things...

Wow. I know the lad. That's terrible news. My fear (or maybe it should be hope) is that someday, a sharp attorney is going to harvest these boxers into a class action suit. Someone like the attorney who went after the Boston Church molestation issues. Without a union, that's the only scenario I can see working though I am sure there are others.
Thanks for the info, Jeffrey.

-Kid Blast :

This is just plain brutal with plenty of targeting to boot: ->https://www.facebook.com/UltimateFootballFanClub365/videos/1648316452137490/

-Paul Kevin :

You can still do a great Tango

-Kid Blast :

You can still do a great Tango

Huh??

-Domenic :

Huh??

Ted, I came across this today, and thought of your thread:
->http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/09/sports/football/what-happened-within-this-players-skull-football-concussions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Also, I stumbled on this over the weekend. A superb documentary, if you haven't already seen it:
->https://youtu.be/hT-CcbdTTlI
Has the medical community made any progress on diagnosing CTE prior to death? A concrete CTE diagnosis, rather than merely saying it's likely due to multiple concussions, erratic behavior, etc. That's the crucial question, it seems.
Edwin Valero's brain would've been an interesting study, as well as Arturo Gatti (NOT equating those two, obviously). Aaron Hernandez? He's serving a life sentence but he's allegedly committed multiple murders, and demonstrated anti-social/sociopathic behavior since his late high school and early years at UF.
A fascinating subject.

-Kid Blast :

Ted, I came across this today, and thought of your thread:
->http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/09/sports/football/what-happened-within-this-players-skull-football-concussions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
Also, I stumbled on this over the weekend. A superb documentary, if you haven't already seen it:
->https://youtu.be/hT-CcbdTTlI
Has the medical community made any progress on diagnosing CTE prior to death? A concrete CTE diagnosis, rather than merely saying it's likely due to multiple concussions, erratic behavior, etc. That's the crucial question, it seems.
Edwin Valero's brain would've been an interesting study, as well as Arturo Gatti (NOT equating those two, obviously). Aaron Hernandez? He's serving a life sentence but he's allegedly committed multiple murders, and demonstrated anti-social/sociopathic behavior since his late high school and early years at UF.
A fascinating subject.

great stuff Dominic and I thank you very much. I think right now Boston University is leading the research but that's just an opinion ion. The key--as you point out--is to get it diagnosis early.
Valero, and even Spadafora right now who is going through another rough patch. Tony Dorsett needs to be looked at according to what I hear. The symptoms are familiar enough. I should think that someone is looking at what is happening to cells in a living brain. That's the issue. Are their Tau cells in there? Can they be found in time to reverse the horror of what is to come?
I want this thread to continue to be enriched by posts like yours. I want this thread to be our contribution to the issue.

-JohnnyTango :

OMG! Mark Gastineau revealed this week in a radio interview that he was diagnosed a year ago with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which he believes were caused by head trauma from football. His former New York Jets teammates were blown away by the news.

-Kid Blast :

OMG! Mark Gastineau revealed this week in a radio interview that he was diagnosed a year ago with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, which he believes were caused by head trauma from football. His former New York Jets teammates were blown away by the news.

Terribly shocking. The is the first time I have seen someone who participated in both sports have CTE or something related. But clearly, it was football that cause it. Mark really only took one beating in the ring and that was against Alonzo Highsmith, another guy who also played football. But Mark was a fearsome force on the gridiron. These cases continue to shock as more and more familiar names contract dementia of some sort.

-Domenic :

It'd seem that Gastineau's brain injuries are attributable to football, and anything boxing-related was merely icing on the cake (I'd say superfluous, but his foray into boxing couldn't have helped). When he fought Highsmith, the damage, in all probability, had already been done. CTE is a ticking time-bomb for the NFL, and by extension, boxing/MMA. The mammoth settlement of $765mm allowed them to skirt answering the what they knew and when they knew it question, and thus took them off the hook for an even more crippling judgment, but as more and more of these guys trickle in from the 80's and 90's, you have to wonder where this story ends.
When Goodell was called to testify before congress, someone equated the NFL with big tobacco, whose stance in the 80's (and before) was that smoking carried no deleterious effects on one's health, a laughable contention. Of course, at that time, the NFL's public position was that there was no correlation between concussions and CTE, and they employed doctors willing to support that stance and sing that tune (Ira Casson, now disgraced, et al). Being likened to the big tobacco situation of that time frightened the NFL into action. If you look at tobacco today, versus 20 years ago, it's a 180 degree change. So you just wonder where this lands 10 years from now as more and more Gastineaus roll in.

-Kid Blast :

It'd seem that Gastineau's brain injuries are attributable to football, and anything boxing-related was merely icing on the cake (I'd say superfluous, but his foray into boxing couldn't have helped). When he fought Highsmith, the damage, in all probability, had already been done. CTE is a ticking time-bomb for the NFL, and by extension, boxing/MMA. The mammoth settlement of $765mm allowed them to skirt answering the what they knew and when they knew it question, and thus took them off the hook for an even more crippling judgment, but as more and more of these guys trickle in from the 80's and 90's, you have to wonder where this story ends.
When Goodell was called to testify before congress, someone equated the NFL with big tobacco, whose stance in the 80's (and before) was that smoking carried no deleterious effects on one's health, a laughable contention. Of course, at that time, the NFL's public position was that there was no correlation between concussions and CTE, and they employed doctors willing to support that stance and sing that tune (Ira Casson, now disgraced, et al). Being likened to the big tobacco situation of that time frightened the NFL into action. If you look at tobacco today, versus 20 years ago, it's a 180 degree change. So you just wonder where this lands 10 years from now as more and more Gastineaus roll in.

Right ion the money (no pun intended) as usual. That movie "Any Given Sunday" actually touched on this without even knowing about it. LT played the guy with the head injury. Very prophetic. The number of Gastineau's will increase and increase. Meanwhile, some very smart lawyer is looking at boxing right now, but more on that later because I am working on a related article.
Thanks, mate

-Kid Blast :

Former NFL player Kevin Turner died last year of what the doctor who performed his autopsy termed an ALS-type of motor neuron disease caused by CTE. Turner and his doctors blamed head trauma suffered on the football field for his long, painful and early death.
This will be on this weekend on Real Sports with Bryant Gumble and it's brutal.
I watched it and it was gripping. Kevin was quite a man. Very difficult to watch without moat eyes.

-Kid Blast :

This just in: ->http://www.britishboxers.co.uk/2017/03/life-saving-infra-scanners-introduced-this-weekend-at-uk-boxing-events/
This could be a fantastic breakthrough and life saver. Time will tell but it has great potential.

-Kid Blast :

This just in: ->http://www.britishboxers.co.uk/2017/03/life-saving-infra-scanners-introduced-this-weekend-at-uk-boxing-events/
This could be a fantastic breakthrough and life saver. Time will tell but it has great potential.

-JohnnyTango :

Wow, this one has almost 23,000 posts! Why?

-EZEGINO :

Teddy, this piece was gratifyingly nostalgic and deeply enlightening and heartbreaking at it's best. Yeas back I had attended a fight card here on the Island. I noticed a familiar face looking a bit disoriented as he tried to find his seat. By the color I could tell that he had a 'courtesy ticket', also called a 'freebee'. Anyway, I went to assist him and lead him to his seat. I sat next to him and indiscreetly observed him until I was convinced that he had no recollection of who I am.
I said to him, "I remember you from when you used to fight." He answered with a foggy look, "You do?" Then I told him, "Of course I do, we fought twice, once in the Sixto Escobar Stadium and in La Base Naval, where you beat me." Looking a bit lost he replied, "I did? Yeah, I think I did?", but by the look on his face kinda he seemed to be acting as if he remembered but I doubt that he actually did. "You were one tough S.O.B." I said. He face lit up, smiled and said, "Yeah, I was."
When the fight card ended I saw him by one of the public telephones looking in his wallet. I approached him and he said that he was looking for his sister's number so she could come pick him up. I looked at my former "rival" now suffering from the "effects" and told him to forget the call had the HONOR of taking ex-conqueror to his home.
Another fantastic piece Mister Sares, yes indeed!!

-Kid Blast :

Teddy, this piece was gratifyingly nostalgic and deeply enlightening and heartbreaking at it's best. Yeas back I had attended a fight card here on the Island. I noticed a familiar face looking a bit disoriented as he tried to find his seat. By the color I could tell that he had a 'courtesy ticket', also called a 'freebee'. Anyway, I went to assist him and lead him to his seat. I sat next to him and indiscreetly observed him until I was convinced that he had no recollection of who I am.
I said to him, "I remember you from when you used to fight." He answered with a foggy look, "You do?" Then I told him, "Of course I do, we fought twice, once in the Sixto Escobar Stadium and in La Base Naval, where you beat me." Looking a bit lost he replied, "I did? Yeah, I think I did?", but by the look on his face kinda he seemed to be acting as if he remembered but I doubt that he actually did. "You were one tough S.O.B." I said. He face lit up, smiled and said, "Yeah, I was."
When the fight card ended I saw him by one of the public telephones looking in his wallet. I approached him and he said that he was looking for his sister's number so she could come pick him up. I looked at my former "rival" now suffering from the "effects" and told him to forget the call had the HONOR of taking ex-conqueror to his home.
Another fantastic piece Mister Sares, yes indeed!!

That is so tender, Gino. Thanks for the post. I see it a lot among the fighters I know and it's a frightening thing to witness. Now I see that my all-time favorite running back, Gaye Sayers, has dementia. Where does it all end? I do know that I will keep working this issue. And I am encouraged to see that the Brits are experimenting with some nifty technology in deterring brain bleeds early on. I wish t was around when I got mine years ago.
Thanks brother. It's great to have you on the TSS

-Kid Blast :

Teddy, this piece was gratifyingly nostalgic and deeply enlightening and heartbreaking at it's best. Yeas back I had attended a fight card here on the Island. I noticed a familiar face looking a bit disoriented as he tried to find his seat. By the color I could tell that he had a 'courtesy ticket', also called a 'freebee'. Anyway, I went to assist him and lead him to his seat. I sat next to him and indiscreetly observed him until I was convinced that he had no recollection of who I am.
I said to him, "I remember you from when you used to fight." He answered with a foggy look, "You do?" Then I told him, "Of course I do, we fought twice, once in the Sixto Escobar Stadium and in La Base Naval, where you beat me." Looking a bit lost he replied, "I did? Yeah, I think I did?", but by the look on his face kinda he seemed to be acting as if he remembered but I doubt that he actually did. "You were one tough S.O.B." I said. He face lit up, smiled and said, "Yeah, I was."
When the fight card ended I saw him by one of the public telephones looking in his wallet. I approached him and he said that he was looking for his sister's number so she could come pick him up. I looked at my former "rival" now suffering from the "effects" and told him to forget the call had the HONOR of taking ex-conqueror to his home.
Another fantastic piece Mister Sares, yes indeed!!

That is so tender, Gino. Thanks for the post. I see it a lot among the fighters I know and it's a frightening thing to witness. Now I see that my all-time favorite running back, Gaye Sayers, has dementia. Where does it all end? I do know that I will keep working this issue. And I am encouraged to see that the Brits are experimenting with some nifty technology in deterring brain bleeds early on. I wish t was around when I got mine years ago.
Thanks brother. It's great to have you on the TSS

-EZEGINO :

Uncle Teodoro, honestly speaking, the pleasure and honor is mine. The privilege of being able to learn from these groups and also share opinions and experiences among the knowledgeable fans of the boxing sites you have recommended, steered and "drafted" me into is "pugilistic blessing". It's not that I consider myself to be above anyone in a 'boxing informed' sense, but there's a lot of 'meat to eat' in the fight sites you've invited into. Muchas gracias!!
And as for Gale Sayers, I felt the same when the man I originally knew & admired as the exciting, talkative, quick witted, lighting fast Cassius Clay began to show the "effects" that many fighters (whether good, great and journeymen) now silently fear more than ever before due to the topic of awareness on the "effects" issue. In the recent years I've spoken to other fighters on the subject. Openly the majority show little concern about the possibilities of dementia but privately... hmmm... for some it's a different story. While other live in denial.
Seems like every few months someone will whisper, "Hey, have you noticed how ____ is beginning to look. His slurred speaking, blinking more than ever..." All the more reasons to respect the MEN that risk it all, for themselves, self satisfaction, economical gain and for the entertainment of the fans. A VERY UNCOMMON SPECIAL BREED... commonly known as 'boxers/fighters'. Peace Teddy, peace to all.

-EZEGINO :

Uncle Teodoro, honestly speaking, the pleasure and honor is mine. The privilege of being able to learn from these groups and also share opinions and experiences among the knowledgeable fans of the boxing sites you have recommended, steered and "drafted" me into is "pugilistic blessing". It's not that I consider myself to be above anyone in a 'boxing informed' sense, but there's a lot of 'meat to eat' in the fight sites you've invited into. Muchas gracias!!
And as for Gale Sayers, I felt the same when the man I originally knew & admired as the exciting, talkative, quick witted, lighting fast Cassius Clay began to show the "effects" that many fighters (whether good, great and journeymen) now silently fear more than ever before due to the topic of awareness on the "effects" issue. In the recent years I've spoken to other fighters on the subject. Openly the majority show little concern about the possibilities of dementia but privately... hmmm... for some it's a different story. While other live in denial.
Seems like every few months someone will whisper, "Hey, have you noticed how ____ is beginning to look. His slurred speaking, blinking more than ever..." All the more reasons to respect the MEN that risk it all, for themselves, self satisfaction, economical gain and for the entertainment of the fans. A VERY UNCOMMON SPECIAL BREED... commonly known as 'boxers/fighters'. Peace Teddy, peace to all.

-Domenic :

Teddy, this piece was gratifyingly nostalgic and deeply enlightening and heartbreaking at it's best. Yeas back I had attended a fight card here on the Island. I noticed a familiar face looking a bit disoriented as he tried to find his seat. By the color I could tell that he had a 'courtesy ticket', also called a 'freebee'. Anyway, I went to assist him and lead him to his seat. I sat next to him and indiscreetly observed him until I was convinced that he had no recollection of who I am.
I said to him, "I remember you from when you used to fight." He answered with a foggy look, "You do?" Then I told him, "Of course I do, we fought twice, once in the Sixto Escobar Stadium and in La Base Naval, where you beat me." Looking a bit lost he replied, "I did? Yeah, I think I did?", but by the look on his face kinda he seemed to be acting as if he remembered but I doubt that he actually did. "You were one tough S.O.B." I said. He face lit up, smiled and said, "Yeah, I was."
When the fight card ended I saw him by one of the public telephones looking in his wallet. I approached him and he said that he was looking for his sister's number so she could come pick him up. I looked at my former "rival" now suffering from the "effects" and told him to forget the call had the HONOR of taking ex-conqueror to his home.
Another fantastic piece Mister Sares, yes indeed!!

Posts like these are why TSS is the go-to site for boxing. Superb stuff.

-EZEGINO :

The times my former 'conqueror' and I faced off were as amateurs, both times they were fights to determine who would represent the Island in future competitions. Anyway, I took time out yesterday to see if anyone of my fight chums could inform me on how he was getting around these days. The last time I saw him was that night at the fights in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum.
I was told by someone of an incident that while being basically confined in a nursing home. Early that morning he remembered that he was "STILL" a fighter, then wrapped his hands with toilet tissue and went unnoticed to do his "usual" roadwork!! After the staff realized and reported that he was gone he was picked up by the Police THREE miles away, sweated from head to toe and SHADOW BOXING!!
Once a fighter.... ALWAYS A FIGHTER!! I was also told that he passed away a few years ago, fighting all the way till the end. My former conqueror died a FIGHTER!! Peace to all!!

-EZEGINO :

The times my former 'conqueror' and I faced off were as amateurs, both times they were fights to determine who would represent the Island in future competitions. Anyway, I took time out yesterday to see if anyone of my fight chums could inform me on how he was getting around these days. The last time I saw him was that night at the fights in the Roberto Clemente Coliseum.
I was told by someone of an incident that while being basically confined in a nursing home. Early that morning he remembered that he was "STILL" a fighter, then wrapped his hands with toilet tissue and went unnoticed to do his "usual" roadwork!! After the staff realized and reported that he was gone he was picked up by the Police THREE miles away, sweated from head to toe and SHADOW BOXING!!
Once a fighter.... ALWAYS A FIGHTER!! I was also told that he passed away a few years ago, fighting all the way till the end. My former conqueror died a FIGHTER!! Peace to all!!

-EZEGINO :

P.S. Uncle Teddy/folks, This great article actually inspired me contact various Island fight amigos that I've lost contact with in the recent years. Other ex-champs like John John Molina, Julian Solis.. & former top contenders have and are currently suffering the effects of "laying it ALL on the line" health issues.

-Kid Blast :

P.S. Uncle Teddy/folks, This great article actually inspired me contact various Island fight amigos that I've lost contact with in the recent years. Other ex-champs like John John Molina, Julian Solis.. & former top contenders have and are currently suffering the effects of "laying it ALL on the line" health issues.

That is so terribly sad to hear. How is Alfredo Escalera doing? He became a legend eventually, but many of the great PR fighters came to sorry endings. Benitez, Rosario, so many others.

-Kid Blast :

Posts like these are why TSS is the go-to site for boxing. Superb stuff.

Domenic, EZ-E is a legend in his own right among PR boxing people. He is one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known and I have learned a lot from him. BTW, he beat Alfredo Escalera by 10-round UD back in the day.
He is in human survives and only knows how to give to his fellow man.

-larueboenig :

Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn - ?("Iron Mike" Webster was) a formidable man, at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, who sometimes forgot to eat for days -- sleeping in his battered, black Chevy S-10 pickup truck, a garbage bag duct-taped over the missing window. ?Sometimes he didn?t seem to care,? said Sunny Jani, the primary caregiver the last six years of his life.? ? Greg Garber, ESPN.comThey said he had died of a heart attack,but when I first saw photos of former NFL football legend Mike Webster with his forehead protruding grotesquely and a shelf of scar tissue over his eyebrows, I was pretty certain his issues were more frontal lobe than heart condition. Cardiac arrest may be how he died but not why.You could see it plainly during this interview toward the end. It?s difficult to witness, particularly for those familiar with why Mike was called ?Iron? Mike and this was long before the NFL and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) would be connected through Mike?s death and legacy:? [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY*?Dementia footballistica. This is crazy. This has never been identified before.? --Ronald Hamilton, neuropathologist?[Like dementia pugilistica], it doesn?t get better??You get more and more demented. It?s sad.??--Dr. Fred Jay Krieg,Fast ForwardThe 2015 Sony Pictures movie ?Concussion,? based on an article by Jeanne Marie Lascars titled ?Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever,? was not about boxing, at least not directly. It was about football which has gained more attention thanks to pioneering forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered neurological deterioration similar to Alzheimer?s disease while conducting an autopsy on Mike Webster. Omalu described Webster?s brain as one of ?a boxer, a sufferer of Alzheimer?s...or someone who had suffered a severe head wound." The doctor found that Mike?s brain contained the buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau. This buildup, which is also an Alzheimer?s hallmark, leads to brain cell death. ?Tau was kind of like sludge, clogging up the works, killing cells in regions responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning,? he said.There is no treatment and no cure for CTE. The only known way to prevent it is to avoid repeated head injuries. However, several major research initiatives are underway. Omalu has set out to cure CTE. "You pop a pill before you play, a medicine that prevents the buildup of tau,...like you take an aspirin to prevent heart disease. Why not?,? he says.Thus, and to make a very long story short, there was no other explanation for Webster?s deterioration; the repeated banging of his brain against his skull had damaged the brain?s nerve cells. Amidst controversy (and denial and pushback from the NFL), Omalu named the disorder Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and published his findings in a medical journal. The NFL called his findings flawed.
To be precise about the origin of CTE, eminent doctor John Stiller states ?Dr. Omalu deserves credit for standing up to the NFL and others and for officially reporting ?CTE? in an NFL player. However, he was not the first to describe either the principle neuropathological features of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) or the first to use the term CTE to describe this type of chronic brain damage likely the result of repetitive concussive and subconcussive brain traumas.
The principle neuropathological features were described in the seminal report of ex-boxers diagnosed with Dementia Pugilistica or punch drunk syndrome by Jan Corsellis, a renowned British neuropathologist, and colleagues in 1973.? (Corsellis, J. A., Bruton, C. J. & Freeman-Browne, D. ?The aftermath of boxing;? Psychol. Med. 3, 270?303, 1973).
The term chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers was used by MacDonald Critchley the eminent British neurologist in a paper published in 1949 (Punch-drunk syndromes: the chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers. Hommage ? Clovis Vincent. Paris: Critchley, M (1949) and again in a paper published in 1957 (Medical aspects of boxing, particularly from a neurological standpoint. Br Med J 1957; 1: 357 Critchley, M (1957).
That was then and this is now, and now, as other athletes face the same diagnosis, the crusading doctor has raised public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.* No more denials; no more pushback. The doctor has studied too many brains for any pushback.The film spread the story of CTE?s discovery in football players?and the NFL?s years of alleged inaction. Unable to change the past, the NFL is now focusing on the future, but over the last decade, the league has repeatedly avoided tying football to brain damage, even as it has given disability payments to former players with dementia-related conditions?including Mike Webster (but that?s another shameful story for another day).Yet, in all fairness, the league has clearly taken extra measures in recent years to make the game safer.BoxingAside from a few high-profile doctors like John Stiller, Margaret Goodman, Ray Monsell, Joel Kleinman and others from the Association of Ring Physicians (ARP), no one has really come out in the manner of Bennet Omalu to dramatize the fact that if football produces CTE, what precisely does boxing produce?Tom Moyer, the filmmaker of the riveting (and frightening) documentary ?After the Last Round? says he made the movie because he was so tormented by the head injuries that stripped his boxing cousins of their memories. His goal is to increase awareness so more people will care. The documentary has had minimal distribution, which is a shame. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8Writer Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun touches the tip of the iceberg when he says, ?They [boxers] have no pension; in fact, most walk away with less than nothing, because they leave boxing with less than what they had going in.?Compared to professional football players and with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. Thus, for those who suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy or pugilistic Parkinson?s syndrome, Parkinson?s tremors (which is not as deadly}, or dementia pugilistica (aka boxer?s syndrome), matters won?t improve. Dementia pugilistica is a one-way ticket to Palookaville. While other injuries such as cuts and fractures can be repaired, brain tissue, once damaged, remains irreversibly damaged.The plain fact is Dementia Pugilistica is a variant ofCTE.Football, soccer, rugby, and hockey teams and wrestlers are, for the most part, represented by unions. Boxers have no such collective strength. Unless promoters (see postscript below) and state commissions do something, no one else will. It simply is what it is. But all the hoopla these days is about catch weight, doping, PPV counts, and other things that mask the darker side of boxing?the one in which the thousands of rounds and blows in the gym eventually offset any possible feeling of hope.Except for the elite few who enjoy their place at the tip of the pyramid, most boxers do, in fact, leave the sport with less than what they had going in.Now this is not about Rocky Balboa who was named the seventh greatest movie hero, and who solved the Cold War with Russia by beating the evil Ivan Drago and who, as a 60-year-old, even overcame suspected brain damage to go the distance with Mason Dixon. This is about reality. What happened to Iron Mike Webster was every bit as horrible as what happened to boxing?s Moyer brothers and to the Quarrys. This is about former boxer, sparring partner, and highly respected trainer John Bray who has now been clinically diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas. (Pugilistic Dementia is considered a sub-type of CTE.) John also has Alzheimer?s and Cavum Septum Pellucidum as a result of his boxing career. He is 46.This is a subject that no longer can be ignored by those who essentially run boxing, or by those who write about it, or by those who comment about it. Postscript:The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is in the midst of a multiyear study of professional boxers and their brains to determine just what happens to them, and when, and why, and how and if it can be prevented. The study, which unites Golden Boy, Top Rank, MMA, and U.S. Senators, has enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters with the goal of evaluating 625 by its completion. Participation is completely voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and brain function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for at least four years. It?s a great, great start!
- - -
Ted Sares is one of the world?s oldest active power lifters and holds several records. He enjoys writing about boxing and is a member of Ring 4's Boxing Hall of Fame.
Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn / Check out more boxing news and videos at[url=http://theboxingchannel.com] The Boxing Channel.

good heavens, over 26,000 hits. To what do you attribute this?

-Kid Blast :

It could be anything from "egg roll to I'll be dammed if I know."
Maybe the fact Mike Webster is in it as he was enormously popular in Pittsburgh. And that photo is chilling.
Also, many of the links in the thread might somehow increase the number of hits.
Most likely reason is that the football connection resonated with football players and fans and possibly even lawyers who are handling the cases of ex-football players.
Whatever the case, it is finally slowing down some.
And BTW, this will be my last thread post on TSS for the foreseeable future. Thanks for asking the question and my deepest sympathies on your recent loss.

-larueboenig :

Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn - ?("Iron Mike" Webster was) a formidable man, at 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, who sometimes forgot to eat for days -- sleeping in his battered, black Chevy S-10 pickup truck, a garbage bag duct-taped over the missing window. ?Sometimes he didn?t seem to care,? said Sunny Jani, the primary caregiver the last six years of his life.? ? Greg Garber, ESPN.comThey said he had died of a heart attack,but when I first saw photos of former NFL football legend Mike Webster with his forehead protruding grotesquely and a shelf of scar tissue over his eyebrows, I was pretty certain his issues were more frontal lobe than heart condition. Cardiac arrest may be how he died but not why.You could see it plainly during this interview toward the end. It?s difficult to witness, particularly for those familiar with why Mike was called ?Iron? Mike and this was long before the NFL and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) would be connected through Mike?s death and legacy:? [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzc0Lrxw3KY*?Dementia footballistica. This is crazy. This has never been identified before.? --Ronald Hamilton, neuropathologist?[Like dementia pugilistica], it doesn?t get better??You get more and more demented. It?s sad.??--Dr. Fred Jay Krieg,Fast ForwardThe 2015 Sony Pictures movie ?Concussion,? based on an article by Jeanne Marie Lascars titled ?Bennet Omalu, Concussions, and the NFL: How One Doctor Changed Football Forever,? was not about boxing, at least not directly. It was about football which has gained more attention thanks to pioneering forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu who discovered neurological deterioration similar to Alzheimer?s disease while conducting an autopsy on Mike Webster. Omalu described Webster?s brain as one of ?a boxer, a sufferer of Alzheimer?s...or someone who had suffered a severe head wound." The doctor found that Mike?s brain contained the buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau. This buildup, which is also an Alzheimer?s hallmark, leads to brain cell death. ?Tau was kind of like sludge, clogging up the works, killing cells in regions responsible for mood, emotions, and executive functioning,? he said.There is no treatment and no cure for CTE. The only known way to prevent it is to avoid repeated head injuries. However, several major research initiatives are underway. Omalu has set out to cure CTE. "You pop a pill before you play, a medicine that prevents the buildup of tau,...like you take an aspirin to prevent heart disease. Why not?,? he says.Thus, and to make a very long story short, there was no other explanation for Webster?s deterioration; the repeated banging of his brain against his skull had damaged the brain?s nerve cells. Amidst controversy (and denial and pushback from the NFL), Omalu named the disorder Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and published his findings in a medical journal. The NFL called his findings flawed.
To be precise about the origin of CTE, eminent doctor John Stiller states ?Dr. Omalu deserves credit for standing up to the NFL and others and for officially reporting ?CTE? in an NFL player. However, he was not the first to describe either the principle neuropathological features of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) or the first to use the term CTE to describe this type of chronic brain damage likely the result of repetitive concussive and subconcussive brain traumas.
The principle neuropathological features were described in the seminal report of ex-boxers diagnosed with Dementia Pugilistica or punch drunk syndrome by Jan Corsellis, a renowned British neuropathologist, and colleagues in 1973.? (Corsellis, J. A., Bruton, C. J. & Freeman-Browne, D. ?The aftermath of boxing;? Psychol. Med. 3, 270?303, 1973).
The term chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers was used by MacDonald Critchley the eminent British neurologist in a paper published in 1949 (Punch-drunk syndromes: the chronic traumatic encephalopathy of boxers. Hommage ? Clovis Vincent. Paris: Critchley, M (1949) and again in a paper published in 1957 (Medical aspects of boxing, particularly from a neurological standpoint. Br Med J 1957; 1: 357 Critchley, M (1957).
That was then and this is now, and now, as other athletes face the same diagnosis, the crusading doctor has raised public awareness about the dangers of football-related head trauma.* No more denials; no more pushback. The doctor has studied too many brains for any pushback.The film spread the story of CTE?s discovery in football players?and the NFL?s years of alleged inaction. Unable to change the past, the NFL is now focusing on the future, but over the last decade, the league has repeatedly avoided tying football to brain damage, even as it has given disability payments to former players with dementia-related conditions?including Mike Webster (but that?s another shameful story for another day).Yet, in all fairness, the league has clearly taken extra measures in recent years to make the game safer.BoxingAside from a few high-profile doctors like John Stiller, Margaret Goodman, Ray Monsell, Joel Kleinman and others from the Association of Ring Physicians (ARP), no one has really come out in the manner of Bennet Omalu to dramatize the fact that if football produces CTE, what precisely does boxing produce?Tom Moyer, the filmmaker of the riveting (and frightening) documentary ?After the Last Round? says he made the movie because he was so tormented by the head injuries that stripped his boxing cousins of their memories. His goal is to increase awareness so more people will care. The documentary has had minimal distribution, which is a shame. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8]->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waJTKs_Uv-8Writer Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun touches the tip of the iceberg when he says, ?They [boxers] have no pension; in fact, most walk away with less than nothing, because they leave boxing with less than what they had going in.?Compared to professional football players and with a very few exceptions, boxers have just about nothing. Thus, for those who suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy or pugilistic Parkinson?s syndrome, Parkinson?s tremors (which is not as deadly}, or dementia pugilistica (aka boxer?s syndrome), matters won?t improve. Dementia pugilistica is a one-way ticket to Palookaville. While other injuries such as cuts and fractures can be repaired, brain tissue, once damaged, remains irreversibly damaged.The plain fact is Dementia Pugilistica is a variant ofCTE.Football, soccer, rugby, and hockey teams and wrestlers are, for the most part, represented by unions. Boxers have no such collective strength. Unless promoters (see postscript below) and state commissions do something, no one else will. It simply is what it is. But all the hoopla these days is about catch weight, doping, PPV counts, and other things that mask the darker side of boxing?the one in which the thousands of rounds and blows in the gym eventually offset any possible feeling of hope.Except for the elite few who enjoy their place at the tip of the pyramid, most boxers do, in fact, leave the sport with less than what they had going in.Now this is not about Rocky Balboa who was named the seventh greatest movie hero, and who solved the Cold War with Russia by beating the evil Ivan Drago and who, as a 60-year-old, even overcame suspected brain damage to go the distance with Mason Dixon. This is about reality. What happened to Iron Mike Webster was every bit as horrible as what happened to boxing?s Moyer brothers and to the Quarrys. This is about former boxer, sparring partner, and highly respected trainer John Bray who has now been clinically diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas. (Pugilistic Dementia is considered a sub-type of CTE.) John also has Alzheimer?s and Cavum Septum Pellucidum as a result of his boxing career. He is 46.This is a subject that no longer can be ignored by those who essentially run boxing, or by those who write about it, or by those who comment about it. Postscript:The Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas is in the midst of a multiyear study of professional boxers and their brains to determine just what happens to them, and when, and why, and how and if it can be prevented. The study, which unites Golden Boy, Top Rank, MMA, and U.S. Senators, has enrolled nearly 400 active and retired fighters with the goal of evaluating 625 by its completion. Participation is completely voluntary, and fighters in the study receive free, ongoing assessments of their brain health and brain function, including MRI scans. Individual tests will be repeated annually for at least four years. It?s a great, great start!
- - -
Ted Sares is one of the world?s oldest active power lifters and holds several records. He enjoys writing about boxing and is a member of Ring 4's Boxing Hall of Fame.
Concussion: Now It?s Boxing?s Turn / Check out more boxing news and videos at[url=http://theboxingchannel.com] The Boxing Channel.

Thank you. Makes sense.

-larueboenig :

Thank you. Makes sense.

-EZEGINO :

Teddy, sorry for taking too long to answer, I hadn't read your comment. Alfredo has slowed down a bit, rarely seen at the fights. The last times we actually spoke was at an inauguration of the Jose "Chegui" Torres Municipal Boxing Gym in Patillas, Puerto Rico and again at an event for former 147Lb champ Angel Espada held in the Angel "Cholo" Espada municipal sports complex in Salinas. Puerto Rico, a while back. Many athletes have to die before getting a gym, street, stadium..named after them. Salinas' Mayor honored Espada over 15 years ago, a move that many fans really appreciated. He also worked in the same complex before he retired a few years ago. Maybe I can see if someone took a group picture that Espada, Alfredo and I all appear in. A lot of ex champs and contenders were on hand. LaPorte, Wilfredo Vazquez Sr & Junior, Alex "Nene" Sanchez, Sammy Serrano, Tito, Quintana... and those remembered but didn't/couldn't attend. Respected missing/MIA warriors that just aren't "aware" anymore of how good/great they once were. Peace Tio Ted, peace to all.

-Domenic :

Evidently there's a battle brewing over the brain of Aaron Hernandez right now. It'll be interesting to see if he had CTE or was just a psychopath.

-Radam G :

Wow! I think that Big Pharma and the media are beginning to trivialize CTE nowadays for the next big-money making medicine that the FDA will approved to so-called prevent athletes, beaten housewives, beaten children and the likes from catching CTE.
Big Pharma, the FDA and greedy, none-caring allopathic doktors ought to chillax with their 1,001 tricks to scare the scary and make that moolah with Frankensteinized tricks.
Who is watching the discovers of CTE on diagnosing every dead person suffeing CTE from even a leaf flying upside the noggin.
I have no doubt that many get CTE. But I also have no doubt of Big Phamarma and allopathic doktors' TsOTT and corruption and schemes to make money. Holla!

-JohnnyTango :

This piece has went absolutely VIRAL! My count has it at 37,000! Why?

-Kid Blast :

And still another British Boxer fails a brain scan.
Former Central Area super-lightweight champion Kofi Yates has had to face the cold hard fact that he will never box again after failing a routine brain scan earlier this year.
He was advised by doctors that to continue boxing would be a risk to his health longterm and so with the advice of the medical professionals and his family, he has decided to call time on his 14-2 career.
After 14 years of being a boxer, Kofi says it was a very hard decision to make, but will now pursue other job paths, and says he will remain in boxing in some capacity to help pass on his experience.

-Kid Blast :

By: VTmbaHacker  on May 26, 2017, 12:22 PM | 16 comments
NYTimes has just done a piece on Don Horton being diagnosed with CTE. Heavy topic but there were some interesting points to be made:
•Don Horton, while a football lifer was not a highly touted player who made it at the top levels - "He had played for Wittenberg University, a Division III power in Ohio"
•He was definitely from the era of 'tough guy football', I wonder if that 15 number is even a bit low. - ""He would say: 'We didn't call them concussions. We called them getting your bell rung,'" Maura Horton said. "And I'd ask him how often that happened, and he said: 'Probably like 15 times. We just played through them.'"
•I wonder how many more cases of this we will start to see and how low it will go, high school? - "People read the C.T.E. stories on the N.F.L. level because it's been so highly publicized, but I don't think people see it as something the average person gets," Maura Horton said. "But there are more people who are going to be affected who played in the N.C.A.A. than played in the N.F.L. That's what I told our girls: It's going to be average guys like your dad."
Also, this shocker: ->http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9931754/former-nfl-stars-tony-dorsett-leonard-marshall-joe-delameilleure-show-indicators-cte-resulting-football-concussions
And this: ->http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/mma-fighters-suffer-traumatic-brain-injury-in-almost-a-third-of-professional-bouts-study

-Kid Blast :

->https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2014/february/dallas-cowboys-tony-dorsett-is-losing-his-mind/
A brutally frank article about CTE that includes mention of boxing.
As much as we appreciate the Boxers, we need to find a cure for CTE or “we can just stick our heads in the sand and call them “Punchy”.

-Kid Blast :

NOTICE OF AMENDED TIMELINE IN THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION AND FAIRNESS HEARING FOR MEDICAL MONITORING AND RELEASE OF CLAIMS
you previously received notice of this Class Action via email on January 9, 2017, or you requested to be kept informed of the status of the Settlement.
On May 23, 2017, the Court issued a Scheduling Order which amended the timeline in the class action lawsuit called In re National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litigation, Case No. 1:13-cv-09116 (N.D. Ill.). It is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
This Scheduling Order can be viewed at the Settlement Website, ->www.collegeathleteconcussionsettlement.com and extends the deadline to request exclusion from or object to the Settlement to August 4, 2017, and rescheduled the Fairness Hearing for September 22, 2017, at 10 a.m. at the Everett M. Dirksen United States Courthouse for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois.
If you have any questions,
Visit: ->www.collegeathleteconcussionsettlement.com;
Call: 1-877-209-9898
Write: In re: NCAA Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litigation, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, PO Box 43414, Providence, RI 02940-3414
I received this since I played football in Illinois

-Kid Blast :

NOTICE OF AMENDED TIMELINE IN THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION AND FAIRNESS HEARING FOR MEDICAL MONITORING AND RELEASE OF CLAIMS
you previously received notice of this Class Action via email on January 9, 2017, or you requested to be kept informed of the status of the Settlement.
On May 23, 2017, the Court issued a Scheduling Order which amended the timeline in the class action lawsuit called In re National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litigation, Case No. 1:13-cv-09116 (N.D. Ill.). It is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
This Scheduling Order can be viewed at the Settlement Website, ->www.collegeathleteconcussionsettlement.com and extends the deadline to request exclusion from or object to the Settlement to August 4, 2017, and rescheduled the Fairness Hearing for September 22, 2017, at 10 a.m. at the Everett M. Dirksen United States Courthouse for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 219 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois.
If you have any questions,
Visit: ->www.collegeathleteconcussionsettlement.com;
Call: 1-877-209-9898
Write: In re: NCAA Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litigation, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, PO Box 43414, Providence, RI 02940-3414
I received this since I played football in Illinois